Icardi captaincy decision imminent – Inter director Ausilio

The Argentine striker could be stripped of the armband after angering the biggest group of Nerazzurri ultras following comments made in his autobiography

Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio has revealed the Serie A club are set make a decision on whether to strip embattled skipper Mauro Icardi of the captaincy.

Icardi’s future is up in the air after he incurred the wrath of Inter’s biggest group of ultras, following comments made in his autobiography in which he wrote he had become a “hero” for standing up to one of their leaders.

The incident relates to a 3-1 Serie A defeat at Sassuolo last season when Icardi had his shirt thrown back at him by supporters, leading to a confrontation between the two.

Representatives from the ‘Curva Nord’ then declared Icardi’s Inter career was “finished” in a response on Sunday before they jeered him and displayed a banner criticising the Argentine, who missed a penalty during the 2-1 loss to Cagliari.

And after vice-president Javier Zanetti hinted that Icardi could lose the armband as the situation threatens to spiral out of control, Ausilio said: “The whole club agrees with Zanetti.

“We had an important match today and we all needed to be focused on Cagliari. Tomorrow [Monday] we’ll have a chance to look at it with the player and analyse everything that has happened with a cool head.

“I don’t think we saw Icardi at his best today. It’s not easy to deal with certain kinds of pressure, especially when you’re a 23-year-old lad.

“We’ll protect the team and the club so that we’re in the best shape possible for our matches. We need to pull through a tough sporting situation and think only of the good of Inter.”

Comments from Ausilio and Zanetti came as Icardi used social media to respond to the growing anger among supporters.

In a letter to fans posted on Instagram prior to Inter’s defeat on Sunday, Icardi wrote: “Dear Curva Nord, I am surprised and disappointed. I am surprised because I simply referred to the fact I lost my temper in the heat of the moment, combined with the adrenaline of the match and the bad moment the team was going through.

“I simply wanted to sum up the atmosphere of that incident. It’s true that in the book I spat out some exaggerated phrases [and the verb spat gives a good idea of how inopportune my reaction was].