«After the events that occurred at the end of the Lecce – Verona match, US Lecce announces that it has relieved coach Roberto D’Aversa of his duties. Thanks go to the coach and his staff for the work done.” The club writes it on its website.
The headbutt to Henry
A Sunday to forget that cost Roberto D’Aversa his job as coach of the Salento team. The Lecce coach was a negative protagonist (by his own admission) in the incandescent finale of the salvation match against Verona: the ugly page written with the header (even if the coach denies there was premeditation and speaks of a contact) given to the Scala striker Henry D’Aversa, he paid for it despite the clarification and apologies that arrived at the end of the match: a maxi-disqualification from the sports judge was also on the way (referee Chiffi saw the episode and sent the player off ‘trainer).
INSIGHTS
Lecce’s position
The club distanced itself with a note of reprimand, in which it “firmly condemns the gesture of its coach as it is contrary to the principles and values of sport”. The apologies addressed to everyone, with his reconstruction of the episode were not enough to save the manager’s bench, booed and contested by the Salento fans tired of the technical guidance of a team that seems to have embarked on a dangerous downward spiral. And they really didn’t like the unjustified reaction at the final whistle of the match against Verona, which resulted in the contact with Henry.
The technician’s apologies
D’ Aversa tried to exonerate himself: «It was a tense final – he specifies -, when in the last minutes of the match we witnessed some provocations. It wasn’t a nice gesture to see, absolutely not premeditated, but it was my intention to separate the players.” Then the mea culpa via social media: «He apologizes to everyone for letting myself get carried away by the heat and losing clarity. I came into contact head-to-head with Henry – he explains – but I didn’t hit the Veronese footballer with a headbutt, nor did I receive one from him. It was a terrible example, an unsportsmanlike image resulting from the great tension and adrenaline which however must not and do not want to be my excuses or mitigating factors.”
Previous
In the past, other coaches have been guilty of similar actions: twenty years ago the then Cesena coach Castori took part in the final brawl with Lumezzane, Serie C. Castori was given a three-year ban, later reduced to two. Also famous are the kick in the butt that Silvio Baldini (on the Catania bench) gave to Di Carlo (Parma), or the attack in 2012 by Delio Rossi, then managing Fiorentina, on one of his players Adem Ljajic which cost the coach three months off. In 2019 in Serie C, Lucchese coach Giancarlo Favarin headbutted an opponent and was stopped until the end of the season. D’Aversa risks similar measures. The first name as a replacement could be that of Leonardo Semplici, with the Tuscan coach having already collaborated with Corvino with the Fiorentina Primavera.
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1970-01-01 00:00:00
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