Carlo Ancelotti said Napoli asked repeatedly for action to be taken over racist abuse from Inter fans. “Next time we’ll take matters into our own hands.”
Kalidou Koulibaly was booked at San Siro and reacted with sarcastic applause to the referee, prompting a red card.
Lautaro Martinez went on to win the game at the 92nd minute, creating tension that went beyond the final whistle.
Carlo Ancelotti said Napoli asked repeatedly for action to be taken over racist abuse from Inter fans. “Next time we’ll take matters into our own hands.”
Kalidou Koulibaly was booked at San Siro and reacted with sarcastic applause to the referee, prompting a red card.
Lautaro Martinez went on to win the game at the 92nd minute, creating tension that went beyond the final whistle.
“I asked the referee for information on the red cards and nothing else. Those incidents rather decided the match, as we had done very well in the second half and were pushing hard.
“We even had the chance to win it when down to 10 men, but tempers were a little raised at the end,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia.
“There was a strange atmosphere, as we asked three times for play to be suspended, they had announcements with the speaker three times. Koulibaly was certainly irritable. Usually, he is very calm and professional, but he was subjected to monkey noises throughout the game.
“We asked three times for some action to be taken, but the match continued. We keep being told play can be halted, but when? After four or five announcements? Maybe we have to take matters into our own hands next time and stop play ourselves. They’ll probably make us forfeit the game if we walk off, but we are prepared to do it.
“It’s not good for Italian football, seeing this.”
The protocol for dealing with racist abuse is to initially have an announcement via the speaker warning the game will be stopped if the chants continue, but if that is ignored, then the referee is meant to halt play for at least a few minutes.
Lorenzo Insigne also saw red late on for his off the ball incident with Keita Balde Diao, as they seemed to provoke each other.
“Insigne worked hard, also on Brozovic, so when you work harder defending, you’re going to not be as sharp in attack. It was a fiery situation, it’s better to wait until tomorrow when things have calmed down a little and then be clearer on the situation.”
Jose Callejon was initially used as a right-back, but moved position after Marek Hamsik went off injured.
“Inter tended to send their wingers after the full-backs, so I put Callejon there as someone a little more dangerous. I knew it would involve a few risks, but we wanted to be positive and not sit back to see what Inter did.
“We weren’t very sharp in the first half and made some bad final passes, but in the second we absolutely dominated the match.”