LECCE, Italy (AP) — Lecce coach Roberto D’Aversa appeared to head butt Hellas Verona striker Thomas Henry following a heated matchup between two teams just above the relegation zone in Serie A on Sunday.
Henry was arguing with Lecce defender Marin Pongracic after the final whistle when D’Aversa went over to intervene and instead ended up knocking Henry over with an apparent head butt directly in front of one of the match officials.
“Next Saturday we have another big match (against Salernitana) and I didn’t want my players to be banned,” D’Aversa said. “So I went out to try and separate them from the opponents and then the incident with Henry happened.
“I’ve already apologized to Verona’s management,” D’Aversa said. “As a coach and father of three kids, I want to apologize for what happened.”
Both D’Aversa and Henry were sent off.
While replays appeared to show that it was indeed a head butt, D’Aversa later said on Instagram that it wasn’t.
“I was wrong and I apologize,” D’Aversa said in his social media post. “I got carried away and lost lucidness, but not to the point of hitting another person. … Once again I apologize to Henry, to the Lecce, Verona and Italian fans, to the referees, to the two clubs, to my management, my staff and my team.”
Michael Folorunsho scored early in the first half for Verona, which won 1-0 to move up to 13th place, two points above the drop zone. Lecce dropped one point behind in 15th.
With Lecce having earned just one point in five matches, the incident could also lead to D’Aversa losing his job.
Lecce said in a statement on its website that it “firmly disapproves” of what its coach did since it “goes against the principles and values of sports.”
Henry, who is French, said on Instagram that receiving a red card “for reacting only verbally, to a head butt” left him “embittered.”
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