Diego Maradona Makes Kalidou Koulibaly Racism Claim, Talks Antonio Conte, More

Napoli legend Diego Maradona has claimed racism in football is holding back star centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly. He also believes his former club is at a disadvantage in Serie A because newly crowned champions Juventus are helped by referees. 

Maradona's highly controversial outburst didn't spare former Juve chief and incoming Chelsea gaffer Antonio Conte, whom Maradona believes has made a dubious career move.

The comments were made during an interview with Piuenne TV (h/t Spanish publication Sport). Maradona was eager to speak out against what he feels is an unjust perception of 24-year-old Senegalese international Koulibaly: “If Koulibaly was white he would be playing for Real Madrid or Barcelona. Racism still exists in football. The white players are always favoured over black players—and that is a disgrace.”

Koulibaly has reportedly been scouted by Chelsea as a potential signing for Conte, according to Matt Law of the Daily Telegraph. The same report also indicated Manchester United and Bayern Munich have shown an interest.

Maradona's ire also extended to Juventus, particularly the Turin club's recent climb to a latest title: “Juventus have phenomenal players, but also the Italian referees! It’s nothing new, when there are doubts the Juve players are always right.”

The man who won Serie A with Napoli called on the club's leading voice to make himself heard more often amid what he sees as favouritism for the Old Lady: “[Napoli president] De Laurentiis ought to make himself respected, the way other Napoli directors did in the past. Fiorentina’s disallowed goal yesterday was scandalous.”

His attack on Juve even included ex-manager Conte. Maradona is less than impressed by the Italian's decision to leave his post in charge of the national team for life in the Premier League: “The coach of the Italian national team signs for Chelsea! That seems shameful to me.”

It's not exactly clear why Maradona would view Conte returning to club management as a target for scorn. After all, Conte proved his worth by winning a hat-trick of titles with Juve before taking his country's top job.

But his image has been tarnished somewhat by a trial over match-fixing allegations.

Finally, Maradona seems just as concerned by how Napoli will handle the future of star striker Gonzalo Higuain. Maradona's fellow countryman has scored 30 league goals for Napoli this season, per ESPN FC.

Yet, Maradona still believes his old club should sell the prolific No. 9 and replace him with Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane, according to the same interview with Piuenne TV (h/t Alex Harris of the Daily Star):

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I know Aurelio De Laurentiis, and I think he will sell Higuain. Higuain gave his best to Napoli, I don't think he can repeat this kind of form. We already saw it happen with Ezequiel Lavezzi.

With the money he will earn, he will have to build a great team. It's not easy to replace Higuain, if it was up to me, I would choose Tottenham's Harry Kane. I don't know how much he costs, but I would sign him.

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Maradona rarely shies away from expressing controversial views, and his latest comments are sure to attract plenty of attention and provoke debate across the sport. Napoli fans will no doubt hope to keep star players such as Higuain and Koulibaly as the foundation of a team that can go one better and overtake Juve next season.