Former Napoli sports director Mauro Meluso says Nigeria international striker Victor Osimhen lies about being racially insulted by the club during his time with them , OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
The Galatasaray forward in an interview on Tuesday said the club disparaged him with an insultive video on their TikTok channel after his penalty miss.
He also claimed that he was racially insulted, and got no support from the club leading to his exit from the club, initially on loan before signing permanently in the summer.
Replying to claims made by the 27 year old Meluso said his claims are false, and move on state his own side of the story and what the club did after the TikTok video incident.
“Regarding the TikTok video case, I remember that Nicola Lombardo and I calmed Osimhen down, he was furious the day after the video was released. We were accused of racism, but there was absolutely no intention of targeting one of our own players, it was meant to be ironic”, he explained to Radio Napoli centrale.
“Osimhen took it very badly, but woe betide anyone who would use racist language, Napoli rejects all forms of racism. The people of the city as well, I have great respect for Neapolitan fans. I believe they are mature and understand situations, as shown by that banner.
“That TikTok video affected him deeply, also because a Nigerian government representative intervened with strong statements. It had a media and personal impact. For me, there was no intent to offend him, but someone instrumentalized the situation and certainly not his agent, (Roberto) Calenda, who was always very correct.”
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
