Trouble brewing in Naples! Napoli striker Victor Osimhen has deleted almost all images of himself wearing a Napoli jersey from his Instagram feed. The action came after videos posted by the club on TikTok appeared to make fun of the striker.
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Victor Osimhen, who led Napoli to their first Serie A title in more than three decades last season, was made the butt of a joke on social media by his club on Tuesday.
One video centered around his penalty miss during Sunday’s goalless draw against Bologna.
It was a rare missed goal for the Nigerian, who has netted 62 goals in 107 games for the club, but the video seemed to make fun of him for trying to convince the referee to give him a penalty.
The video showed him requesting a penalty, but in an odd, fast-paced voice with the words ‘Gimme Penalty please’, before he fired the ball wide of the goal.
A second video from the club’s account, which was shared widely on social media and has since been removed, appeared to refer to Osimhen as a ‘coconut’, a term widely interpreted as a derogatory and racist slur.
Victor Osimhen appears to have deleted the majority of his Instagram posts featuring a Napoli T-shirt, leaving only one in its place.
Osimhen’s agent Roberto Calenda released a statement on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter, saying the video caused “very serious damage to the player.”
“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,” said Calenda.
“We reserve the right to take legal action and any other useful initiative to protect Victor.”
Napoli did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.