Kalidou Koulibaly has accused Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis of a lack of “respect” towards African players.
De Laurentiis claimed that he would not sign African players in future if they wanted to play in the African Cup of Nations because they lose them for long periods mid-season.
The oft-outspoken De Laurentiis said: "Enough of African players, or they should give up playing in the African Cup of Nations. I won't be buying them any more for this reason. We pay the salaries to send them around to play elsewhere in the middle of the league championship. Or they sign a waiver that for AFCON and the championships in South America [the Copa America], I cannot make them available to participate."
Senegal captain Koulibaly, 31, hit back at his former club president and said it is time football treated the tournament with the same respect as European competitions.
Koulibaly said: “It’s up to him. For me, the most important thing is to respect everybody. I always respect everybody. When I played there I was playing also for Senegal, and I won AFCON when I was playing at Napoli.
“It’s true it was a difficult moment for them when we went to AFCON, but we won it and I’m really happy today.
“We have to respect the national teams also. You cannot speak about an African national team like this, I think.
“You have to have respect as you have for the other national teams. As captain of Senegal, I think it’s not a good way to speak about an African national team, but I respect what he thinks. If he thinks the team can play without African players, it’s up to him.
“But I think not everyone in the club has the same idea as him. I know everybody over there, I know the supporters and the supporters don’t think like this.
“It’s up to him, but it’s not an idea of the society of the city, because the city is really respectful. This is what he thinks, not what the city is thinking or the society is thinking.
“It’s the most important thing, and everybody has to give us respect like we give respect to everybody. You cannot speak about an African national team like this. You have to have respect us like you do a European team.”
