Soccer Superstar Victor Osimhen Threatens to Sue His Own Team Over Insensitive TikTok Videos
Sep. 27 2023, Published 1:14 p.m. ET
The Gist:
- Victor Osimhen is a professional soccer player for the Serie A club Napoli.
- In September 2023, Napoli mocked the athlete in a series of now-deleted TikTok videos.
- Osimhen's agent said the soccer star is considering taking legal action against his club, Napoli.
Professional soccer player Victor Osimhen recently helped Napoli claim its first Serie A title since 1990; for his stellar performance, the club posted a series of TikTok videos mocking him. Although the content has been deleted, Victor's agent said the Nigerian striker is considering taking legal action against his own team.
Keep reading for all the known details about this messy situation.
Victor Osimhen considers legal action over the disgraceful TikTok videos.
On Sept. 26, 2023, Victor's agent took to social media and announced that the elite soccer star is considering taking legal against his own club, Napoli, after they mocked him on TikTok. We'll delve deeper into the videos later, but it's important to note that the clip he's most upset about mocks his penalty-taking skills.
"What happened today on Napoli's official profile on the TikTok platform is not acceptable," Victor's agent, Roberto Calenda, wrote in a statement on X (formerly known as Twitter). "A video mocking Victor was first made public and then, but now belatedly, deleted."
Roberto continued, "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."
According to Sky Sports, the Nigerian athlete "expects an apology" from Napoli. He and his management also want the club to "firmly distance themselves from the social media post."
A few hours after Roberto's comments, Victor removed all Napoli-related photos and videos from his Instagram. He also unfollowed the club's official page before re-following them, per Sky Sports.
The timing of the TikTok was quite interesting, considering Victor had a heated exchange with manager Rudi Garcia after he was subbed out with four minutes left in Napoli's match against Bologna on Sept. 24. He apologized to Rudi and the other players, but the drama between the two parties continues to heat up every day.
Here's what we know about Napoli's insensitive TikTok videos.
Although the TikTok videos have been deleted, they're still making the rounds on social media thanks to several fans sharing screen recordings of the short clips.
Italian sports journalist Fabrizio Romano shared the original video, which highlighted Victor's missed penalty kick from Napoli's match against Bologna on Sept. 24. The 13-second clip featured a strange, sped-up voice to make it seem like the club's star player was acting like a whiny baby during the match.
A second video allegedly from the team's TikTok page labeled Victor as a "coconut," which has been viewed as a racial slur. According to the BBC, the word coconut — brown on the outside, white on the inside — has been used to "accuse someone of betraying their race or culture" by catering to white ideals or beliefs.
Most of the club's supporters have bashed Napoli for the videos, and there's now a very real possibility that Victor will sue his own team for character defamation. Either that, or he'll part ways with Napoli for good — his contract is set to expire in the summer of 2025, and he has not yet signed a new deal (and likely won't after this mess).
