Marotta: ‘Inter believe Acerbi, but it’s a bitter situation’ | OneFootball

Inter CEO Beppe Marotta calls the racism allegations against Francesco Acerbi ‘a bitter page for the world of football’, but he believes the defender who starts against Empoli.

It kicks off at San Siro at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).

The last couple of weeks have been very tense for the Nerazzurri, who were held 1-1 by Napoli, during which Juan Jesus accused Francesco Acerbi of racist comments.

“I wouldn’t talk about disappointing results so much as before the pace was extraordinary, so we dropped into ‘normality’ by being held by Napoli and going out of the Champions League to a great team like Atletico Madrid,” Marotta told DAZN.

“Now we must continue this remarkable run of results and I am very confident, as the coach and players are fully concentrated on this match.”

Following an investigation, Acerbi was not punished due to insufficient evidence, but the controversy around that incident was an embarrassment for the club.

“We stayed quiet and that was our decision. It was a bitter page for the world of football, no matter how you view or analyse it,” continued Marotta.

“We asked our player to tell us what happened on the pitch. He told us his truth, we have no doubts he was telling the truth, there is no other evidence of him making racist comments, so with the lawyer we backed him in the investigation.

“I must reiterate that Inter are always in favour of initiatives fighting any form of racism or discrimination. We support Juan Jesus in that, but there is a process that needs to be gone through and the verdict was delivered.

“Acerbi is a great professional who has already experienced some very serious health problems in his life.”

Juan Jesus clearly gave a very different version and Napoli were so angry at the verdict that they withdrew from any official Lega Serie A anti-racism initiatives, insisting on doing their own separately.

“I have not spoken to Juan Jesus. I spoke to my player, I accept what he told us and have no doubts believing his version. I am not a judge, so all I can do is follow the investigation, which saw no evidence of racist abuse.

“The version given by Juan Jesus was different, we respect that too, but we are not judges and others in that position gave their verdict,” added the Inter chief.

“It is a bitter situation, no matter how you look at it. Acerbi, who is a mature player and sensitive person, naturally was affected by the situation. He was attacked from all sides and that inevitably creates tension, but he is also accustomed to facing life with great determination, he had terrible health problems, so is a man who will have the strength to get past this too.”

Marotta was questioned on the transfer strategy for next season, which should already have free agents like Medhi Taremi and Piotr Zielinski.

“Piero Ausilio and Dario Baccin are already working on the operations we can perform in 2024-25. However, our focus is on keeping a core of the team, plus owners who might be far away physically, but are close to us morally, and we are able to work in the best way.”

Reports continue to suggest Steven Zhang and Suning could lose control of Inter if they do not repay the loan to Oaktree in May, so will the club have a new owner next month?

“I don’t know, these are above my level. I often speak to Steven Zhang, he has the desire to keep going and the owners helped us achieve great results, so I feel we have every chance of keeping that going.”