Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly assures he is ‘not looking for an apology’ from Fiorentina fans after he was racially abused in their stadium. ‘I want to give people a voice.’
The incident occurred as he was being interviewed at the Stadio Artemio Franchi and he immediately tried to confront the man.
He was identified and banned from all future Fiorentina games, while there is also a police investigation.
Koulibaly was invited to attend via videolink the Festa della Toscana event.
“After that incident in Fiorentina-Napoli, I read up on Tuscany and know it is a wonderful region for culture and art,” said the Senegal international.
“I am not looking for an apology from the people of Florence and Tuscany. I received many messages of solidarity from the fans and the Viola club, so I want to thank them for that.
“This is where we need to start again, going forward to combat racism together. Racism is still diffused in society and it is because I have this platform that I want to fight it, because there are many people who are not fortunate enough to be in a position to fight racism. I want to give those people a voice.
“It is very important to me, I will always do this as a player and as a man even when my football career has ended.”