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There was support, if not united, for Kalidou Koulibaly in Naples, while VAR issues clouded the final games of the year

Kalidou Koulibaly was suspended for Napoli’s final game of 2018. He will miss the first league fixture of next year, too. He had been one yellow card away from a ban before picking up two in the Boxing Day defeat to Inter. Serie A’s sporting judge was not minded to show leniency towards a player who lost his cool after being racially abused.

Still, Koulibaly did not want to miss Saturday’s game at home to Bologna. He took up a seat in the stands at the Stadio San Paolo, and was greeted by the sight of his own face: over and over. Thousands of Koulibaly masks had been distributed before kick-off so fans could show their support for the player. Down on the pitch, Faouzi Ghoulam ran out to warm up in the centre-back’s No 26 shirt.

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from Football | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2s2nMzU