The wording of the statement on the Francesco Acerbi verdict makes clear that while they believe Juan Jesus felt he was racially abused, there is a ‘insufficient evidence’ to ban the Inter defender.

Acerbi risked a 10-match ban if the racist abuse was confirmed, so this was a very delicate matter considering he denied making any such comment.

The not guilty verdict is certainly raising eyebrows and reading the explanation given by the sporting judge gives more insight into how the situation was evaluated.

The statement confirms what we saw on television, which is that at the 13th minute in the second half in their 1-1 draw, Napoli defender Juan Jesus told the referee he had received a racist insult from Acerbi.

“Acerbi’s reaction towards Juan Jesus is certainly compatible with the expression of an offensive phrase, but not so clear as to be perceived by the others players, the referees or the officials on the sidelines.

“The ‘offender’ does not deny his comments were offensive or threatening, but without doubting the good faith of the Napoli player, the discriminatory content was only perceived by the ‘offended’ party (Juan Jesus), without the support of any audio, video or eye-witness testimony.

“Discriminatory conduct, especially when referring to race, has to be sanctioned with the maximum severity, but such serious sanctions also need to be backed up to provide reasonable certainty.

“There was certainly proof of some insult, but as the gravely discriminatory content was limited to the word of the person offended, without any other supporting evidence, direct or indirect, we cannot consider this proved with any reasonable certainty.”

In Italian law, there are several different ways of declaring someone ‘not guilty’ and they are not all the same.

There is ‘not guilty for not having committed the crime’ and ‘not guilty due to insufficient evidence.’

The Italian sporting disciplinary commission found Acerbi not guilty through insufficient evidence.

It has also been noted that Juan Jesus cannot appeal the decision.

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