Joel Obi Solace from Serie A New Boys

Joel Obi Solace from Serie A New Boys

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With just six goals in 72 appearances for Chievo Verona in the three seasons he was there, the Italian side did not see any reason to extend the contract of a player whose career had been plagued with injury. With Joel Obi’s future in limbo, newly-promoted Serie A side- Salernitana came to the rescue by offering the 17-capped Super Eagles midfielder a one-year contract

Newly-promoted Serie A club Salernitana during the week confirmed the signing of former Chievo Verona and Super Eagles midfielder, Joel Obi, on a one-year contract with the option of an extension.
Obi moved to the Arechi Stadium on a free transfer following the expiry of his three-year contract at Chievo in June.

Last season, the Super Eagles midfielder scored five goals in 31 Serie B games for Chievo but his top-flight experience will be needed to boost Fabrizio Castori’s side, who will compete in Serie A for the first time since the 1998-99 season.

“The US Salernitana 1919 announces that it has reached an agreement with the ’91 class midfielder Joel Obi,” read the club’s statement.
“The player has signed an annual contract with the grenade club with automatic renewal upon the occurrence of certain sporting conditions.”

After putting pen to paper on Wednesday, Obi recalled his stay at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi and he appreciated everyone who made his time at the club memorable.

“I would like to find the right words to describe what these two and a half seasons spent at Chievo have represented for me, all the emotions, the moments in which we cried, rejoiced, suffered and fought, always together, as a true team,” Obi wrote on Instagram.

“Perhaps the best way is to just say thank you. This path has made me grow professionally and humanly, so I want to thank all the people who have been part of it: my teammates, the staff, the managers, all those who work for this shirt.

“A heartfelt thanks in particular goes to you fans, who have always supported me in the happy moments, but above all in the most difficult ones. I think that the beauty of football is also a little bit this: the ability to say goodbye, but knowing that nothing really ends because that has always been inside you. Thanks.”

For former Super Eagles defensive midfielder, Waidi Akani, “Obi’s talent has never been in doubt. He is one player I admire so much and sympathise with. The question has always been on his fitness,” he noted.
The midfielder was racially abused last season and his abuser was handed a 10-match ban, a judgement the Nigerian said he was satisfied with but felt sorry for his Italian abuser.

Obi says he feels ‘sorry’ for Michele Marconi after the Pisa player racially abused the midfielder last season, adding he is satisfied with the Italian’s 10-match ban.
The incident happened during Pisa’s Italian Serie B match against Obi’s Chievo on 22 December, which ultimately ended with the Italian being suspended.

Obi believes the punishment was appropriate.
“I was satisfied because we have to learn that we live in a society where we have to respect everyone,” the former Inter Milan and Torino midfielder told BBC Sport Africa.

“No matter the colour of your skin, we are all equal. I hope he’d learn that humans are equal. Somehow, I also feel sorry for him because he’s human and has a family.
“Maybe he intended saying something else but he made a big mistake to use those abusive and insulting words towards me.

“Hopefully he’ll return a better man and begin to respect everyone.”
Regarded as one of Nigeria’s finest creative midfielders, Obi started his career at Italian giants Inter Milan where he rose from the youth set-up to the first team in 2010.

He rejected a chance to represent Italy at youth level before making his debut for Nigeria against Sierra Leone in February 2011.
An Italian citizen after living in the European country for over two decades, Obi said he was dismayed to have been abused by an opponent.

“I was a bit disappointed because it’s coming from a fellow footballer,” he said.
“We are supposed to lead by example and show that racism or abusive words are unacceptable.
“This sort of thing is not acceptable in the society. For someone who should be a good example to act, that way was my biggest disappointment.

“We all love football and should respect it. It’s a powerful sport in the society.
“We should respect those paying the money to watch us play, buying football merchandise and investing their time and resources to ensure we have a career – we need to be a good example for them.”

Despite huge campaigns by football authorities to eradicate racism in Italian football, African footballers like compatriot Simeon Nwankwo, Algerian Adam Ounas and Senegal’s Kalidou Koulibaly suffered racist abuse last season.

Obi admitted that authorities face a major challenge in their quest to eradicate all forms of discrimination and prejudices.
“It’s going to be very difficult but we have to fight for it. It’s our collective responsibility to kick it out of football and we can’t give up,” Obi added.

“Racism and discrimination are something that has been around since the dark days of slavery. We can’t keep quiet. We need to fight for it and hopefully one day we can win the war against discrimination and racism.”
He also said more footballers need to speak out in the fight against racism.

“It’s important to speak up because if you are quiet, no one will speak for you,” he urged.
“During the game between Pisa and Chievo, I was trying to calm myself because any strong reaction from me could lead to a red card sanction.

“During the half-time break, he (Marconi) was trying to apologise to me, but I was calm and ignored him. Other players on the field heard exactly what he said, even though the club tried to deny it after the game.
“Today, it’s been proven he was racially abusive towards me because I spoke out. If we don’t speak up no one will speak for you.”

The 30-year-old has spent the majority of his career in Italy, starting with stints at Inter Milan followed by Parma, Torino and his eventual switch to Chievo in 2018.
During his stay at the club, Obi was loaned to the Turkish Super Lig where he spent the second half of the 2018-19 campaign with Alanyaspor.

He has played over 120 games in Serie A with eight goals to his name.

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