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Icardi to remain Inter captain despite clash with ultras

Reuters

Mauro Icardi will retain his role as Inter captain despite a vicious fallout with the club's ultras over the weekend, the Milan-based side confirmed Monday.

He will be sanctioned, however, with various reports suggesting a hefty fine will be levied.

Icardi was the subject of scathing attacks from his own fans this weekend, with the ultras responding to claims the 23-year-old made in his autobiography by calling him a "vile piece of shit" and demanding that he relinquish the armband.

Related - Inter ultras' scathing banner targets Icardi: 'Vile piece of s---'

In his book, Icardi claims that members of the Curva Nord ripped his jersey out of the hands of a young child before launching it back at him to voice their displeasure after a tepid loss to Sassuolo.

The Curva Nord unveiled multiple banners before, during, and after Sunday's loss to Cagliari lambasting the Argentine and calling for his removal as captain. They even went as far as cheering when the striker shanked a terrible penalty wide of the target in the opening half.

After Inter vice-president Javier Zanetti vowed to look into the incident, the club released a statement Monday with the following apology from Icardi:

The last couple of days have been a sad period in my time with the Nerazzurri. Yet within a family - and I've always been taught that Inter is first and foremost one big family - tough times and misunderstandings happen. It all stemmed from a page of my book which was probably written in haste; a page where some of the tone wasn't appropriate and I'm really sorry that the Inter fans got caught up in all this.

This has offended a lot of people but you always need to look forward and, if possible, do everything in your power to get things back to normal. That's why I'd like to apologise and I will make efforts to have those pages removed to avoid anyone feeling offended, betrayed, or threatened. I've spoken to the club today and we've put this sorry incident behind us and we all have one aim. We want the best for Inter because nothing is bigger than the this club.

Icardi, who recently signed a new long-term contract with the Italian side, added that he would try to "be more careful" in the future.

With the harrowing incident now seemingly behind them, Icardi - who leads the club with six Serie A goals this season - and his Inter teammates will look to get their season back on track after going winless in three straight league contests.

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