Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly has lost his suspension appeal and will now miss his side's clash with Lazio on Sunday.
The Senegal international was sent off for a second bookable offence in Napoli's game against Inter last month, after sarcastically applauding referee Paolo Mazzoleni when the match was not stopped due to racist chanting from Nerazzurri fans.
The Italian football federation (FIGC) ignored heavy criticism to confirm that they would uphold the initial two-match ban for the red card, but Napoli made an appeal against the decision.
Sky Sport now report that the Naples side's appeal has been rejected, with Koulibaly now set to serve the second of his two-game suspension when his side takes on Lazio in Serie A at the San Paolo Stadium.
Napoli boss Carlo Ancelotti revealed his dismay at the failure to stop the match, and insisted that were it to happen again, he would lead his team off the pitch.
❌ Napoli are unsuccessful in their bid to have Koulibaly’s two-game ban overturned, after HE was racially abused at Inter & lashed out in frustration.
— Adriano Del Monte (@adriandelmonte) January 18, 2019
How is Italian football ever supposed to move forward with decisions such as these? #ridoculous pic.twitter.com/59Bm42YgsJ
The Italian said (as quoted by The Daily Telegraph): "It [the racial abuse] shook him [Koulibaly]. He's a good-mannered player and he was bombarded by the stadium.
"Despite our requests and the chanting, the game wasn't suspended. I think it should have been. Next time we'll stop playing ourselves.
Napoli's appeal against Koulibaly's suspension rejected, despite his appearance in court today where he described how he was affected by the racist chanting. Huge opportunity lost for @FIGC to show they're serious about battling racism. 😡
— Everything Napoli (@NapoliAndNaples) January 18, 2019
“It was impossible for him to be calm. He cares a lot about the issue of racism and he commits a lot of time to the matter, including in society. What happened is unacceptable, not just for us but for Italian football as a whole."
