Kalidou Koulibaly hits out at Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis after the latter's controversial remarks about not allowing African players of his club to play in AFCON..
2022-08-04 19:51Aurelio De Laurentiis (middle) and Kalidou Koulibaly (circled) worked together at Napoli between 2014 and 2022.
LONDON / NAPLES - Kalidou Koulibaly has condemned plans by Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis to tell new signings they must agree not to play in the Africa Cup of Nations.
De Laurentiis proposed the controversial policy on Tuesday, saying that any African player who joined the Serie A club should make a commitment to skip the tournament.
"I told them: lads, don't talk to me about Africans anymore," De Laurentiis told a streamed event in quotes reported by Daily Mail.
"I love them, but either they sign something confirming they'll back out of playing the Africa Cup of Nations, or otherwise between that tournament, the World Cup qualifiers in South America, these players are never available!
"We are the idiots who pay salaries only to send them all over the world playing for others."
It remains to be seen whether he goes through with the plan, or whether it is enforceable. The next AFCON is due to be played in the Ivory Coast in January 2024.
Last season, Napoli were without Cameroon international Andre-Franck Zambo Anguissa and Senegal defender Koulibaly as they represented their nations in the tournament that took place in January and February, while Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen missed out because of an injury.
Koulibaly, who has since moved on to Chelsea, felt De Laurentiis was out of line with his remarks, and claimed the views would not be endorsed by many others at the club.
"It's up to him if he wanted to tell this, but for me the most important (thing) is to respect everybody," Koulibaly told a news conference in London.
"When I played there, I was playing also for Senegal, and I won the AFCON with Senegal when I was playing with Napoli.
"It's true that it was a difficult moment for them when we went to AFCON, but we won it and I'm really happy today."
While Napoli may have struggled for numbers without their African players, their results were strong nonetheless, with Luciano Spalletti's team taking 13 points from a possible 15 from their first five league games of the year. The only real disappointment was a Coppa Italia exit at the hands of Fiorentina in mid-January.
Koulibaly added: "You cannot speak for African national teams like this, I think. You have to have respect, like you have for other national teams.
"As captain of Senegal, I think that this is not a good way to speak about African national teams.
"But I respect what he thinks. If he thinks the team can play without African players, it's up to him. But I think not everybody has the same idea as him at the club.
"I know that some people who are part of this society and team do not have the same idea as him. It's not the idea of the society or the city, because the city is very respectful."
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