Football
Ben Gladwell, Italy correspondent 8y

Inter Milan boss Roberto Mancini: Maurizio Sarri remarks 'incredible'

Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini has condemned Napoli counterpart Maurizio Sarri for his anti-gay remarks during a Coppa Italia tie between the two sides on Tuesday.

Sarri could be banned for up to four months over what was said during a touchline confrontation in the closing minutes of Inter's 2-0 win at the Stadio San Paolo.

Mancini said he was so incensed that he refused to accept Sarri's apology in the tunnel afterwards and instead revealed what had been said. 

In an interview with La Repubblica on Thursday, Mancini said: "How can we still be hearing things like this in 2016?

"The thing that annoys me the most is that while Sarri was calling me a 'poof' and a 'f----t,' he was just a step away from the linesman and the fourth official.

"In fact, I told them to take note of his insults and all they said was: 'Leave it be, come on.' But he kept on insulting me and even made an obscene gesture. It's incredible."

Mancini explained that he had entered the Napoli dressing room after the game "alone, against all of them" to tell Sarri: "You've not realised that you're 60 years old [he is actually 57] and there are certain things that you really should not be saying."

He added: "If he'd called me son of a bitch or piece of s---, I wouldn't have cared less. It was obviously in the heat of the moment but it's about time an end was brought to certain insults, when there are people who receive them and suffer from them every single day and they ruin their lives.

"They really should not be coming from a 60-year-old who coaches in Serie A. All I did was protest to the fourth official in the 90th minute that five minutes of additional time was too much, and Sarri exploded in the way he did.

"He lost the plot completely, but that's the way he is -- it must be his nature. It seems like he's said similar things in the past."

Former Manchester City manager Mancini said Sarri should be thankful that he is coaching in Italy and not overseas, explaining: "There's a different sensitivity towards these things abroad.

"In other countries, like in England, if a manager were to say similar things to what he said about a colleague he would not set foot in a stadium again.

"How do I expect it to end? Well, it will end as things do in Italy, won't it? He'll get a two-game ban and that will be it.

"What I want to know is what do the people at Napoli think? Does Napoli's president have nothing to say about it? Incredible."

Sarri is expected to learn what his punishment will be on Thursday, when the Italian Football Association's disciplinary committee meets to discuss the issue.

He could be banned for up to four months if the committee rules that he was discriminatory, or up to two games if his words are deemed to have just been offensive.

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