Edin Dzeko has been handed a two-game ban for unsporting behaviour in Roma’s Coppa Italia clash with Fiorentina on Wednesday, although the referee did not say that he had been spat at.
Dzeko was given his marching orders 20 minutes from the end of a game the Giallorossi lost 7-1 after making a gesture towards referee Gianluca Manganiello. Soon after, images were doing the rounds on social media amid claims he had spat at the official.
Manganiello did not make any mention of a spit in his report, though, stating instead that the Bosnian had been shown the red card for insulting him.
Dzeko has been banned for two games “for, in the 27th minute of the second half, protesting a referee’s decision, approaching the match official in a threatening manner and making seriously insulting remarks towards him,” according to a Lega Serie A disciplinary statement, published on Friday.
As a result, Dzeko will miss the next two Coppa Italia fixtures he would otherwise be eligible to appear in. He has also been fined €10,000.
Meanwhile, Lazio defender Stefano Radu has been hit with a four-game ban for the red card he received in his side’s penalty shoot-out win over Inter Milan on Thursday night for “vehemently protesting the decision of the referee [to award a penalty to Inter], making an insulting remark towards him and, because he slightly pushed the referee after being dismissed, putting his own arm on [the referee’s] chest.”