Napoli's supporters show their support to Senegal international Kalidou following racial abuse he suffered from Lazio supporters

Football
By Mirror | Feb 09, 2016
Some Napoli fans painted their faces in support of Koulibaly

Napoli fans showed solidarity with their defender Kalido Koulibaly by wearing masks of the player during Sunday's clash against Carpi following the racial abuse he suffered from Lazio supporters.

Senegal international Koulibaly

Wednesday's Serie A clash between the two Italian giants was halted by the referee due to the chants from a section of the home support.

Some fans also painted their faces in support of Koulibaly. The protest was organised by supporters' group Quelli del Sangue Azzurr.

A statement read: "Everyone in Naples is offended by what happened to our young star. Because of this, we want to show our full support to Koulibaly."

Lazio were fined £38,250 for the incident and three sections of their Stadio Olimpico ground will be closed for their next two league fixtures.

Reports from the game say monkey chants were heard from the stands when the referee decided to halt the match on the 68th minute with the score at 2-0 to Napoli.

 

The players did resume the match shortly afterwards, and there were no more goals before the full-time whistle.

Italian media report that chants were first aimed towards the city of Naples, before becoming of a more racist nature.

Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri praised referee Massimiliano Irrati for stopping the match after the game, and said he was 'sorry' to hear the abuse that was allegedly directed at Koulibaly.

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