Inter chief questions Materazzi ban

Inter Milan president Giacinto Facchetti has questioned FIFA’s decision to hand Italy defender Marco Materazzi a two-match ban for insulting Zinedine Zidane.

The incident led to the Frenchman’s sending-off in the World Cup final but Facchetti claims that the ruling sets a dangerous precedent.

Zidane was handed a three-match suspension for the headbutt that led to his dismissal – the standard penalty for violent conduct – although as the 34-year-old has retired he will instead spend three days doing humanitarian work for FIFA.

Both players were also fined.

However, Materazzi’s suspension – especially given that FIFA have made it clear that the defender did not racially abuse Zidane – has raised eyebrows in Italy.

And Facchetti, president of the player’s club, believes it will lead to repercussions for the game.

Facchetti told the club’s website www.inter.it: “While the respect and the consideration I have for FIFA remains and always will remain, I wish to underline the disproportion for the penalty inflicted on Materazzi and the one inflicted on the French player or between the player who provoked a reaction and the one who reacted.

“Furthermore, cases like this rewrite laws and create precedents that will force various disciplinary committees to call both players involved in provoking reactions and reactions.”

Guido Rossi, the retired politician brought in to clean up the game in Italy after the recent corruption scandal, hinted that the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) would not appeal a verdict that rules Materazzi out of Euro 2008 qualifiers with Lithuania on September 2 in Naples and France in Paris four days later in a rematch of the World Cup final.

Rossi said: “The definitive verdict of the FIFA disciplinary committee will be respected by us. But the episode will remain consigned to the TV images and to the public opinion of the entire world.”

Zidane was sent off in extra-time at a time when France appeared the stronger side with the score at 1-1 and it was Italy who won the subsequent penalty shoot-out 5-3.

The French captain’s dismissal also denied his side their first-choice penalty taker for the shoot-out.

FIFA have vowed to crack down on racist abuse but made it clear that Materazzi had not crossed that boundary when insulting Zidane.

FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren said: “Zinedine Zidane will be suspended for three matches and fined 7,500 Swiss francs (€4,700).

“However, the committee has taken note that he has declared his career is over and taken note of Zidane’s pledge to do three days community service within FIFA’s humanitarian activities.

“Marco Materazzi will be suspended for two official matches of the Italian national team and fined the sum of 5000 Swiss francs (€3,200) for repeatedly provoking Zidane.

“In both of the players’ statements, the two players expressed regret over the incident and presented their excuses to FIFA and the football community over what had happened.

“They both stressed that the verbal provocation was of an insulting nature but not – and I stress – of any racist nature.”

In a television interview last week, Zidane claimed that remarks were made about his family but did not go into details.

Match referee Horacio Elizondo, an Argentinian, and fourth official Luis Medina Cantalejo, from Spain, also spoke with the disciplinary committee.

Herren said: “I would like to reiterate that the fourth official saw the incident with his own eyes and did not see it on the monitor.

“The fourth officials are trained to see off-the-ball incidents and not just concentrate on the action where the referee is involved and the regulations state they are to report any violent incident to the referee.”

Zidane gave his side of the story to FIFA at their Zurich headquarters hours before the verdict was announced and left without comment to waiting reporters before the ruling.

Materazzi, who admitted insulting Zidane but had denied referring to the player’s religion, origins or his mother, had already testified at a separate hearing last Friday.

Herren said that Zidane would remain in possession of the Golden Ball for player of the tournament and said the committee had never discussed stripping him of the award.