Zidane and Materazzi Banned and Fined

Filed in archive World Cup 2006 on July 20, 2006

image: pc.co.il

FIFA have spoken. Zidane will get a three match ban from international football, Materazzi a two match ban. Maybe FIFA hasn't heard about Zidane's international retirement? Luckily, Zizou has offered to do three days of community service on FIFA's behalf. Fair play to him.

Got to feel for Materazzi. Yes, he insulted Zidane, but we've now established that it wasn't racist. A headbutt AND a two match ban seems pretty heavy punishment for a bit of sledging.

Soccer-Weblog's theory is that FIFA chose two matches to make sure Materazzi misses Italy's Euro 2008 qualifier against France in Paris. The last thing they want is to see an entire French team (not to mention crowd) looking for revenge.

Pointlessly, both players have been fined a few thousand Swiss francs. Neither of them will go hungry.