The story appears on

Page A16

January 21, 2016

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

HomeSportsSoccer

鈥楬omophobia鈥 row hits Sarri

An Italian gay rights group demanded yesterday that Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri be punished for his homophobic rant at Inter Milan counterpart Roberto Mancini.

Following Inter鈥檚 2-0 Coppa Italia quarterfinal victory at Napoli on Tuesday night, Sarri called Mancini a 鈥減oof鈥, leading to a furious reaction from the former Manchester City boss.

Fabrizio Marrazzo, spokesman for Gay Center, has called on authorities to make an example of Sarri.

鈥淎s a Neapolitan and Napoli fan, I鈥檓 ashamed of Sarri鈥檚 words,鈥 he said, adding that he wanted a meeting with Carlo Tavecchio, the Italian Federation president, and Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentis.

鈥淲e would like football to launch a big campaign against homophobia. Such a popular sport cannot allow such violent messages.鈥

Sarri apologized to Mancini later and claimed not to be a homophobe, but the Inter boss also accused him of racism.

鈥淢aurizio Sarri is a racist and men like him have no place in football,鈥 fumed Mancini to RAI TV after the game. 鈥淗e used racist words. He started insulting me and then shouted at me, calling me a poof.鈥

Mancini said Sarri had used the words 鈥渇rocio鈥 and 鈥渇inocchio鈥, both pejorative terms meaning homosexual.

Sarri, 60, brushed off the exchange as part and parcel of the game. 鈥淚鈥檝e seen and heard worse on a pitch,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he adrenalin of the pitch can push you to make bad jokes, but the arguments should finish at the end of the 90 minutes.鈥

Italian media speculated yesterday, however, that the Napoli boss could face a suspension for his comments. According to article 11 of the Italian Federation regulations, all 鈥渋nsults or discrimination... for reasons of race, color, religion, language, sex, nationality or ethnic origin鈥 can result in a suspension of at least four months, as well as a heavy fine.

Mancini missed his side鈥檚 second goal in the win, and was sent off, as he got involved in the stoppage-time row with Sarri and was clearly livid when he spoke to RAI television a few minutes later.

The row appeared to begin after the fourth official mistakenly indicated nine minutes of added time before changing his mind and indicating five.

Stevan Jovetic and Adem Ljajic scored in the last 20 minutes to send Inter into the semifinals while Serie A leader Napoli had Dries Mertens sent off late in the game for diving.

Inter will next face the winner of the last quarterfinal between Lazio and champion Juventus for a place in the final.

Inter鈥檚 city rival AC Milan will play third division Alessandria in the last four. The minnow won 2-1 at second-tier Spezia on Monday while Milan beat Carpi by the same score.


 

Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

娌叕缃戝畨澶 31010602000204鍙

Email this to your friend