‘Nobody intended to hurt anyone’: Napoli boss Rudi Garcia breaks silence on Victor Osimhen video row
Victor Osimhen had deleted almost all photos of himself in Napoli jersey from his social media accounts after the Serie A side shared the controversial video.
Victor Osimhen scored for Napoli last night to earn a comfortable 4-1 win against Udinese in Serie A. The strike was Osimhen’s first goal since he was mocked by Napoli on social media. Napoli had posted a video, which has now been deleted, on their TikTok account showcasing Osimhen missing a penalty. The video was shared with a high-pitched voice saying "gimme penalty please." Following the win against Udinese, Napoli boss Rudi Garcia spoke about the controversy surrounding Osimhen.
“Over the last two days there was a bit of trouble with some clumsy behaviour. Nobody wanted to be hurtful, not the TikTok with the video of Victor, nor Victor by taking his photographs down on social media. Nobody intended to hurt anyone, these are instinctive reactions and are understandable,” Garcia told DAZN, as per Goal.
“It is his social media account, he can do what he wants with it. All I can say is that he loves this jersey and will give everything for Napoli this season as well,” the French manager added.
Victor Osimhen decided to delete almost all photos of himself in Napoli jersey from his social media accounts after the Serie A side shared the controversial video. The now-deleted post featured a clip of Osimhen’s penalty miss from their goalless draw with Bologna in Serie A on Sunday.
Victor Osimhen came off the field in the 86th minute of the domestic league game against Bologna. Before leaving the pitch, the Nigerian international was even spotted shouting at coach Rudi Garcia. Reacting to the clip, Osimhen’s agent Roberto Calenda threatened to take legal action against the defending Italian champions.
“What happened today on Napoli's official profile on the TikTok platform is not acceptable. A video mocking Victor was first made public and then, but now belatedly, deleted. A serious fact that causes very serious damage to the player and adds to the treatment that the boy is suffering in the last period between media trials and fake news. We reserve the right to take legal action and any useful initiative to protect Victor,” Calenda wrote on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Napoli bounced back on a promising note yesterday as they claimed an emphatic 4-1 win over Udinese at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in Naples. Osimhen scored in the 39th minute of the game. The 24-year-old had netted 26 goals in 32 Serie A matches last season to guide Napoli to a historic Serie A victory. It was Napoli’s first Serie A triumph in more than 30 years.
