Nigerian striker Victor Osimheni’s failed penalty kick was followed by a mock video posted by Napoli on social media. The player’s agent has even threatened the club with legal action.
Napoli striker Victor Osimhen scored on Wednesday in the very first game after being mocked by the club on social media.
Napoli published a video on the Tiktok service where Osimhen fails in the penalty kick. On top of the video, the club put a sped-up and chirping sound begging for a penalty kick.
The club removed the video from the service, but it can be seen by, for example, a journalist Fabrizio Romano on the X account.
Osimhene did not air his 2-0 goal against Udinese until his teammates gathered around him. He has also deleted almost all pictures of himself in the club’s shirt on social media.
The head coach Rudi Garcia had to convince after the match against Udinese that the motivation of the Nigerian striker was fine.
– I can assure you that Victor loves this shirt. He is one hundred percent committed to our project, Garcia said, according to the BBC.
– I have a very good relationship with Victor. I’m happy for him that he scored today. After that Bologna match we were all frustrated, angry. Especially Victor was because he missed the penalty, Garcia described.
Osimhen doesn’t see it as a joke
Sky Sports reporter Kaveh Solhekol find it incredible that Napoli saw fit to release such a video.
– Victor Osimhen is one of the best strikers in the world, his goals helped Napoli win the championship last season and he was the top scorer in Serie A. And he gets mocked on social media by his own club, not by fans of the opposition, Solhekol updated.
According to Solhekol, Osimhene is waiting for an apology, but so far Napoli has not given one.
– I contacted Napoli and read between the lines that they think this is disproportionate. It was just a joke on Tiktok and meant for kids who consume content on Tiktok. However, Victor Osimhen doesn’t think it’s a joke, Solhekol summarized.
The agent threatens legal action
Player’s agent Roberto Calenda your threat was previously even followed by legal action in X.
– What happened on Napoli’s official Tiktok account is not acceptable. A video mocking Victoria was published, but was later deleted too late, Calenda described.
Calenda sees that the video causes serious damage to the player.
– We reserve the right to take legal action and all necessary initiatives to protect Victoria.