Unsurprisingly, Aurelio De Laurentiis' comments about African players did not go unanswered for long.
Last week, the president of Napoli warned that he would no longer recruit players from Africa and engaged in a national team, unless they agree to no longer participate in the African Cup of Nations, which takes place every two years in the middle of the season.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) said it was "dismayed by the irresponsible and unacceptable remarks" of De Laurentiis and announced in a press release that it had asked UEFA to open a disciplinary investigation against the Italian leader.
Koulibaly disapproves of his former president
To support its request, the African authority bases itself on article 14 of the disciplinary regulations of UEFA which stipulates that "Any person falling within the scope of article 3 who violates the human dignity of a person or group of persons for any reason whatsoever, including skin color, race, religion, ethnic origin, gender or sexual orientation, incurs a suspension of at least ten games or a specified period, or any other appropriate sanction.
»
“The most important thing is to always respect everyone.
I won the CAN while I was playing in Naples.
It's true that it was complicated for them when we weren't there, but we won and I'm very happy about that.
We must respect the national teams.
We cannot talk about African teams like that, he said at a press conference on Thursday.
They deserve as much respect as the European teams.
If he thinks his team can play without any African players, that's his opinion.
But I don't think everyone thinks so at the club.
I know the fans and that's not what they think.
»
Sport
Homophobia: Idrissa Gueye supported by the Senegalese head of state after his refusal to wear a rainbow on his shirt
Sport
Football: The president of Napoli will no longer recruit African players participating in the CAN
Soccer
Naples
Uefa
CAN
Sport