[DIV class=headline]Fifa investigates Zidane red card [/DIV]
Fifa is to investigate Zinedine Zidane's dramatic sending off during Sunday's World Cup final in Berlin. The Frenchman was dismissed in extra-time for a headbutt on Marco Materazzi which happened seconds after the Italian apparently insulted him. Materazzi has denied calling Zidane a "terrorist" or insulting his mother. Fifa will now launch an investigation into Zidane's conduct to enable it to clarify the circumstances surrounding the incident as exactly as possible. [DIV class=bo] Zidane and Materazzi exchanged words with 10 minutes left of extra-time before Zidane lowered his head and rammed Materazzi in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Materazzi defended himself on Tuesday in the Italian newspaper La Gazetta dello Sport, when he said: "It was the kind of insult you will hear dozens of times and just slips out of the ground. "I didn't call Zidane a terrorist and certainly didn't mention his mother."
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Zidane looked at me with super arrogance... it's true I shot back with an insult [!--Emva--][!--Smva--][!--Smva--]Marco Materazzi [!--Emva--][!--Emva--][/TD][/TR][/TBODY][/TABLE]
[DIV class=bo] Zidane, who was born and grew up in Marseille, is the son of Algerian immigrants and has suffered taunts about his heritage throughout his football career. But Materazzi added: "I am ignorant, I don't even know what an Islamic terrorist is; my only terrorist is her," he said pointing to his 10-month-old daughter. "I did not bring up Zidane's mother; for me a mother is sacred." Materazzi and Zidane became involved in a verbal spat with 10 minutes to go in extra-time with France and Italy drawing 1-1 in the World Cup final. After Materazzi's insult Zidane shoved his head into the Italian's chest and was sent off, with Italy going on to win the match 5-3 on penalties. "I held his shirt, for only a few seconds," said Materazzi, who had scored Italy's equaliser after Zidane put France ahead from the penalty spot. "He turned towards me and scoffed at me, looking at me with super arrogance, up and down. "He said 'if you really want my shirt, you can have it later.' "It's true, I shot back with an insult."
[DIV class=bo] Media organisations across Europe have been trying to decipher what Materazzi said to provoke such an extreme reaction from Zidane. But it remains unclear exactly what was said and the BBC has broadcast two different versions.
BBC Radio Five Live asked for help from a deaf lip reader, Jessica Rees, who read the words phonetically to an Italian translator. She deciphered the insult as being "you're the son of a terrorist whore" - a translation also carried by many national newspapers in Britain on Tuesday. The
BBC's Ten O'Clock News also called in experts to study the television footage of the incident and determined the following: Materazzi's first word to Zidane was "no" before he then told him to "calm down". He then accused him of being a "liar" and wished "an ugly death to you and your family" on the day the Frenchman's mother had been taken to hospital ill. This was followed by "Go f*** yourself". Zidane's agent, Alain Migliaccio, has hinted that Zidane will soon reveal exactly what was said by Materazzi. Piara Powar, national co-ordinator for the anti-racism group Kick It Out told Five Live, said: "If there was a racial slur then Fifa needs to act." Keith Hackett, head of referees in England, said that if it can be proved that Matterazzi racially abused the Frenchman, then Fifa should take retrospective action for "the good of the game."
[DIV class=footer]Story from BBC SPORT:
[A href="vny!://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2006/5169342.stm"]vny!://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2006/5169342.stm[/A]
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[DIV class=footer] [img height=152 alt="Zinedine Zidane headbutts Marco Materazzi during the World Cup final" hspace=0 src="vny!://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41872000/jpg/_41872616_zidaneb203.jpg" width=203 border=0] [DIV class=cap]Zidane reacted to Materazzi's insult by headbutting the defender
[DIV class=cap] [img height=270 alt="Zinedine Zidane headbutts Marco Materazzi during the World Cup final?" hspace=0 src="vny!://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41873000/jpg/_41873010_zidane_materazzi203x270.jpg" width=203 border=0] [DIV class=cap]Just what did Materazzi say to provoke this reaction from Zidane?[/DIV][/DIV]
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