Serie A: Francesco Acerbi acquitted for insufficient evidence by sports judge
Serie A: Francesco Acerbi acquitted by sports judge
Inter Milan defender Francesco Acerbi è was acquitted of the charge of racist insults directed at Juan Jesus during the league match against Napoli. The decision by the Giudice Sportivo è came after investigations conducted by federal prosecutor Giuseppe Chiné, who had heard both players: the Nerazzurri central player è was acquitted for insufficient evidence.
"The Sporting Judge, Having regard to the interlocutory decision in C.U. No. 192 of March 19, 2024, in which, having read the match director’s report, investigative approaches were ordered, by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, having also heard, if necessary, the persons directly concerned, regarding what was reported in the report itself about possible expressions of racial discrimination uttered by the footballer of Soc. Internazionale Francesco Acerbi towards the footballer of Soc. Napoli Juan Guilherme Nunes Jesus;
"Having regard to the documentation received from the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, in particular the minutes of the hearing of the persons directly concerned, including the video of the clash of play filed by the footballer Juan Jesus, as well asé the excerpt of the recording of the relevant referee/VAR interviews;
"Having heard the Director of the match on the unfolding of the facts on the field; Deemed it necessary to premise that today’s proceedings are è incardinated at the National Sports Judge in accordance with Articles. 65, 66 and 68 CGS, on the basis, therefore, of the findings of the official documents and in particular of what is reported in the match director’s report about the events on the field at minute 13° of the second half of the match, punctually represented by the referee himself, who reported in particular: what was reported to him by the footballer Juan Jesus about the alleged offensive expressions of racial discrimination by the footballer Francesco Acerbi; the full availability manifested by the Ar-bitro himself for any possible and consequent decision; the interruption of the game in order to allow a clarification between the players; the resumption of the game finally (after an interruption that lasted about one minute and thirty seconds) following the confrontation between the players and not having expressed the footballer Juan Jesus any dissent in this regard;
"Noted that the sequence of events on the field, reconstructed on the basis of official documents, with the assistance of the Director of the match and in any case visible on video, necessarily moving from the clash of play and the’act of the utterance of some words by the’Acerbi towards Juan Jesus è certainly compatible with the’expression of offenses directed, moreover not blatantly (in a manner; such that it was not perceived by the other players on the field, the match officials or the representatives of the Public Prosecutor’s Office on the sidelines of the playing area), by the Inter player, and not disavowed in their offensive and threatening tenor by the same “offender”, the discriminatory content of which, however, without questioning the good faith of the footballer of Soc. Napoli, turns out to have been perceived by the “offended” footballer alone (Juan Jesus), without therefore the support of any external pro-batory evidence, whether audio, video and even testimonial:
"Noted, as well, that discriminatory conduct, due to its intrinsic gravity and intolerability, especially when referring to a person’s race, skin color or religion, must be sanctioned with the utmost severity; in accordance with the Code of Sports Justice and international sports standards, but it is nevertheless necessary, and a fortiori, that the’imposition of such onerous sanctions be correspondingly assisted by evené minimal evidence, or at least by serious, precise and concordant evidence so as to achieve in this regard a reason-able certainty (cf. for all Federal Court of’Appeal, SS.UU, May 11, 2021, No. 105);
Noted that in the case in point, the sequence of events and the conte- ture of the behaviors è theoretically compatible even with a different reconstruction of the facts, the proof of the offense having certainly been reached but the seriously discriminatory content remaining confined to the words of the offended subject, without any further external, direct and indirect evidentiary and circumstantial sup-port, even of testimonial type;
Hence, held that the minimum level of reasonable certainty regarding the definitely discriminatory content of the offence recited
is not reached in this case.
P.Q.M.
not to apply the sanctions provided by’art. 28 CGS against the footballer Francesco Acerbi (Soc. Internazionale)".
