A referee in Prima Categoria in Italy was punched in the face by the coach of Carpignano, who apologised and resigned from the position.
According to Football Italia, coach Giovanni Alosi attacked the match official Andrea Felis during the match against Oleggio Castello in Prima Categoria.
The game was then suspended, as the coach jabbed the referee when his team was 2-0 down in the second half.
The referee from Turin sent off the coach for protests, but the coach didn’t go to the dressing room but approached the match official, addressing him with a few words and then punched him in the face.
The attack of considerable violence made the referee blow his whistle three times to end the match and Oleggio Castello will most likely win 3-0 by default.
The coach will face sanctions and a long disqualification. Shortly after the incident, the coach apologised for his actions and resigned from the post.
“I’m not looking for justifications,” he told I am Calcio, according to Corriere di Torino. “My gesture has nothing to do with the values and with my way of understanding football, which is first of all fun that cannot and must not allow tensions such as those that led me to make this very ugly gesture and of which I’m personally ashamed.
“I have seen the images too, but I don’t recognise myself. I can only apologise to the referee, with whom I had the opportunity to speak at the end of the match to tell him in person, to our opponents for having ruined a football match in which violent gestures such as mine should never find place and finally to my teammates who I feel responsible for, not just for the role I hold but also because we have a youth sector with many young players who should never be presented with examples like mine.”