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Inter fans from the Curva Nord of the San Siro have said they will end their protests aimed at Mauro Icardi, although they will never recognise him as their club's captain. Icardi infuriated Inter fans by writing in his autobiography how he faced up to them and put them in their place following a defeat at Sassuolo in February 2015. He said he had been "greeted like a hero" by his teammates in the dressing room after a face-to-face with angry fans at the end of that defeat. Banners insulting the player were placed outside his Milan home and in the San Siro during Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Cagliari, but the Serie A club chose not to take the captaincy away from him after disciplinary talks on Monday, although they did say he would be sanctioned. Icardi has since apologised and vowed to remove the passages from future reprints of his autobiography, but that will not fix a relationship with the fans which they say is eternally broken. "For us, like for anybody else [we hope], the captain of Internazionale has got to be a symbol," a statement published on the Curva Nord's website said. "[He must have] experience, charisma, humility, seriousness and intelligence... [like Armando] Picchi, [Giacinto] Facchetti, [Sandro] Mazzola, [Beppe] Bergomi, [Javier] Zanetti -- practically the exact opposite of Icardi. "We cannot therefore agree with what the club has stated. We understand it and the logic and their motivations, but we cannot accept it. It is not up to us to decide, however. Everybody has their own role to play. "We believe that a club like Inter should not allow an individual like Icardi to wear the captain's armband, not because the Curva says so, but simply for ethics and respect. Our history, honestly, deserves something better. But that is enough now. "We rise above it all and everybody. The Icardi chapter is closed. We no longer want to talk about or hear anything about it. He is not our captain: not now, not ever."
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