Lecce coach Roberto D’Aversa appeared to headbutt Hellas Verona striker Thomas Henry after a heated clash between two teams just above the relegation zone in Serie A on Sunday.
Henry was arguing with Lecce defender Marin Pongrasic after the final whistle when D’Aversa intervened and instead ended up headbutting Henry.
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“Next Saturday we have another big game [against Salernitana] D’Aversa said: “I didn’t want my players to be banned. So I went out to try to separate them from the competitors and then the incident happened with Henry.”
“I have already apologized to the Verona management,” D’Aversa added. He added: “As a coach and a father of three children, I want to apologize for what happened.”
Both D’Aversa and Henry were expelled.
While replays seemed to show it was indeed a header, D’Aversa later claimed the penalty he said in an Instagram post It wasn’t.
“I was wrong and I apologize,” D’Aversa said. “I got carried away and lost clarity, but not to the point of hitting someone else… Once again I apologize to Henry, to the fans of Lecce, Verona and the Italians, to the referees, to the two clubs, and to my management.” My crew and my team.”
Michael Folorunsho scored an early goal in the first half for Verona, who won 1-0 to move up to 13th place, two points above the relegation zone. Lecce fell one point back in fifteenth place.
Lecce said in a statement that they “strongly reject” what the coach did because it “contradicts the principles and values of sport.”
