ANKARA

The Italian Football Federation announced on Monday that defender Francesco Acerbi was excluded from the Italian National Football Team Squad after he was hit with racism allegations.

The 36-year-old Inter Milan defender was excluded from the squad list of upcoming friendlies against Venezuela and Ecuador after his alleged racist expressions during Sunday's Inter-Napoli Serie A clash as reported by Napoli defender Juan Jesus.

Acerbi has denied the allegations

For the time being, Italian national team authorities decided to call up Roma defender Gianluca Mancini instead.

Francesco Acerbi helped Italy clinch the EURO 2020.