Moggi: ‘Italy needed Acerbi, not Inter’ | OneFootball

Disgraced former Juventus director Luciano Moggi believes Inter defender Francesco Acerbi was cleared of racially abusing Napoli’s Juan Jesus ‘because the Italy squad needs him.’

It was when he was excluded from international duty that Acerbi insisted he had not said anything racist to Juan Jesus, despite seeming to apologise to him during the 1-1 draw at San Siro on March 17.

Following an investigation, the sporting justice found “insufficient evidence” to charge Acerbi, as punishment would’ve been a 10-match Serie A ban and potentially see Inter terminate his contract.

While on social media some are suggesting Inter showed greater power behind the scenes by protecting their player, Moggi has a different view.

“There was one basic problem in the Acerbi case: the Italy squad needs him,” Moggi told Radio BiancoNera.

“When the referee writes in his report that Juan Jesus declares he was insulted, then the sporting justice system has to apply the rules. Instead, here they asked for more investigation. Who asked for that?

“That was not a normal development. It was requested by the FIGC Prosecutor, so therefore by (FIGC President Gabriele) Gravina, whose interest is that the Italy team does well.

“Inter have already won the Scudetto, they don’t need Acerbi. It’s not really in their interest.”

Moggi was the key figure in the Calciopoli scandal of 2006, which saw Juventus stripped of two Serie A titles and demoted to Serie B for attempting to influence the choice of referees for games.

Although given a lifetime ban from any official role, Moggi remains a fairly active figure in the Italian media as a pundit.