Cocky Napoli refuses to apologise to Osimhen over the TikTok slur

Napoli acted below the acceptable international standard as they refused to apologise to Victor Osimhen for the TikTok video posted by the club's social media team that not only maligned the Super Eagles striker but many said it had a racial undertone.

The club finally broke their silence on the now-deleted videos shared by the club's official TikTok account mocking Osimhen Thursday evening.

Earlier this week, the Serie A champions posted two shocking clips, one mocking the Nigerian striker for missing a penalty and another branding him a “coconut” — widely viewed as a racial slur.

Osimhen’s agent Roberto Calenda was quick to release a statement threatening legal action.

But now Napoli has finally broken their silence on the situation - saying "no offence was intended" and the bizarre clips were meant to be "light-hearted".

A statement read: “Calcio Napoli, wishing to avoid any exploitation of the issue, point out that we never wanted to offend or mock Victor Osimhen, who is a treasure of this club.

“As proof of that, during the summer training retreat, the Club firmly rebuffed every offer that was received for the striker’s transfer abroad.

 “Social media, in particular, TikTok, has always used an expressive form of language with a light heart and creativity, without wanting to, as in the case with Osimhen as the protagonist, have any intention of insult or derision.

“In any case, if Victor perceived any offence towards him, this was not what the club intended."

Osimhen played and scored in Wednesday night's 4-1 win over Udinese - but refused to celebrate his goal.

He was taken off penalty duties following his Bologna miss which was the subject of one of Napoli's TikToks.

Earlier this week, Osimhen’s agent fumed: “We reserve the right to take legal action and any useful initiative to protect Victor.

“What happened on Napoli’s official profile is not acceptable.

“A video mocking Victor was first made public and then belatedly deleted.

“A serious fact that causes very serious damage to the player and adds to the treatment the boy is suffering.”

Social Media Team apologise to Napoli president but not to Osimhen

Elsewhere, Aurelio de Laurentiis, Napoli president met the club’s social media team.

According to La Stampa, De Laurentiis has now stepped in to calm down the situation and he met the Partenopei social media team on Wednesday.

The meeting took place in a room in the Britanique Hotel and the club’s social media manager apologised for the mistake, with the social media team set to stay for the time being.

It was reported that Osimhen had sought an apology from the SMM but there is no report of direct apology to the Eagle striker.

The Nigeria international scored a goal in Napoli’s 4-1 win over Udinese on Wednesday night. Osimhen started and scored against Udinese and let his teammate Piotr Zielinski take a penalty kick in the first half. Osimhen didn’t celebrate his goal but did shake Garcia’s hand when he was subbed off in the second half.

The Nigeria international received high ratings from Italian sports papers on Thursday morning although he was not the best player at the Stadio Maradona.

La Gazzetta dello Sport, Tuttosport, and Il Corriere dello Sport, all rated Osi mhen7/10, while Kvara was given 8/10 by Tuttosport and Corsport and 7.5/10 by Gazzetta.

Osimhen “had the eyes of the world on him after three terrible days. He didn’t smile, but was always in the game,” wrote the pink paper.

“He left the penalty kick for Zielinski but returned to scoring from open play.”

“He didn’t take responsibility for the penalty, but it was fine,” added Il Corriere dello Sport.

“It could have been a disastrous night, but it was more than positive eventually.”