Juan Jesus breaks his silence, admits not being 'protected'

Napoli and Juan Jesus issued a joint statement following the decision to acquit Inter Milan defender Francesco Acerbi of the charge of alleged racist insults against the Brazilian defender, who does not feel "protected".

Furthermore, according to 'La Gazzetta dello Sport', the victim in this case intends to take legal action against his verbal attacker. Not only that, but Napoli fans will hold demonstrations in the stands of the Diego Armando Maradona stadium.

"I have read several times and with great disappointment the decision of the sports judge, who felt there was no evidence that I was the victim of a racist insult during the match between Inter and Napoli on 17 March. While respecting the decision, it is one I find difficult to comprehend and it leaves me feeling very bitter.

Quite honestly I am crestfallen by such a serious incident in which my only mistake was that I dealt with it 'as a gentleman', deciding not to interrupt an important game, with all the inconvenience that would have caused the spectators watching the match. I did so believing that such an attitude would have been respected, and perhaps taken as an example.

Following this decision, I imagine that anyone else finding themselves in a similar situation to mine will act in a very different manner, in order to protect themselves and to curb the disgrace of racism, which, sadly, we are struggling to rid ourselves of.

I do not feel in any way protected by a decision which both admits that “there was certainly evidence of the insult” and maintains there is no certainty that it was of a discriminatory nature, which only I perceived “in good faith”.

I really do not understand how “go away negro, you're just a negro” can be considered to be certainly offensive