Ettore Messina on Napier: I joked. The journalist let it pass as a statement

Ettore Messina, in an exclusive interview granted in Serbia to Meridian Sport, returns to the ‘long-distance controversy’ with Shabazz Napier.

So what went wrong on that 11 November when the statement spread from the Italian to the European public?

“I joked: “He (Shabazz) probably wants to be with us now.” The journalist let it pass as a statement. If you noticed, there was no reaction from that journalist. That tells you enough. No, that tells you everything.

Did this upset you personally?

‘Of course! Of course!. I have the utmost respect for Shabazz. He came to Milan, he played very well, we won the Scudetto together against a great team like Virtus… And of course we wanted him to stay with the club, we were sorry we couldn’t keep him. But that’s life. He wanted to come to Red Star and we wish him all the best. I was very sorry for what happened. And, I will repeat, it is very interesting that there was no response from the mould. It usually has the last word…’.

In Serbia, this was not well received. Does he know?

“I am sorry that they took it the wrong way here. But there is nothing but the utmost respect for Shabazz.”