Spalletti: Racist chanting shouldn't be happening

Luciano Spalletti said Italian football must change after Kalidou Koulibaly was allegedly subjected to racist chanting.

Published : Dec 27, 2018 16:24 IST

Spalletti said change was needed in Italian football, adding there was no place for racism.

Inter coach Luciano Spalletti slammed the alleged racist chanting aimed at Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly during his team's 1-0 Serie A win on Wednesday.

Carlo Ancelotti claimed Napoli asked for the match at San Siro to be suspended on three separate occasions due to the chanting, but no action was taken.

Koulibaly was sent off after picking up two yellow cards before Lautaro Martinez scored a stoppage-time winner for Inter, and Lorenzo Insigne also saw red late on for Napoli.

READ: Inter 1 Napoli 0: Substitute Martinez snatches late victory

Spalletti said change was needed in Italian football, adding there was no place for racism.

"Racist chanting should not be taking place," he told a news conference.

"If 65,000 people come and watch the match on Christmas, they want to see something else. This is the football that Italians and the people around the world want to enjoy.

"People want to find football a pleasant place to be together, this is the change of mentality we have to make.

"This is the right thing to do because our objective is to bring our football up to the top in Europe."

Inter's win saw it move to within five points of second-placed Napoli.