Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen has reportedly turned down the opportunity to take penalty kicks for his club, Napoli, following a controversial incident on the club’s TikTok account.
The decision by Osimhen comes after Napoli posted two videos on their TikTok platform that appeared to mock him for missing a penalty during a Serie A match against Bologna at the end of September.
The videos drew widespread criticism and outrage from Osimhen’s supporters, ultimately leading to the departure of one of Napoli’s social media executives.
Since the incident, Napoli have played three matches and been awarded penalties in every one of those games, yet Osimhen has not taken any of them.
Instead, Piotr Zielinski took on the responsibility against Udinese as well as against Real Madrid in Wednesday night’s Champions League clash at the Maradona.
Matteo Politano took the injury-time kick against Lecce in the game that was played between the two aforementioned fixtures.
According to reports from La Repubblica, reported via TMW, it was Osimhen himself who decided to take himself off penalty duty, having felt unnecessarily mocked by the club’s social media team.
Osimhen had scored two of the three spot-kicks he took in Serie A during the title-winning 2022/23 season, and had scored one of the two he had taken in the early stages of the 2023/24 campaign.