Roberto D'Aversa was fired from his position as coach of Lecce” after his daring act.
The match of the 28th round of the Italian Serie A between Lecce and Verona ended in a big scandal. The hosts' head coach Roberto D'Aversa, after his team's defeat with a score of 0:1, approached visiting forward Thomas Henry and hit him with his head in the face.
The Verona footballer immediately fell on the lawn, but then quickly got up and tried to sort things out with the Lecce coach, but was stopped by his teammates. For his antics, D'Aversa received a red card from the referee.
The reason for the Lecce coach's dissatisfaction was that Henry, after the final whistle, argued with his team player Marin Pograncic and allegedly provoked him.
Lecce coach Roberto D'Aversa visited headbutt Verona striker Thomas Henry in full time….. pic.twitter.com/FUI78TAkht
— Italian Football News (@footitalia1) March 10, 2024
After the match ended, Roberto apologized for his shameful act by posting a message on his Instagram page.
“I would like to apologize to everyone and at the same time briefly reproduce the sad and unpleasant episode in which I played a negative role at the end of the match “Lecce – Verona. I came into contact with Henry head-on, but I did not hit the Verona player and did not receive a header from him. It was physical contact, a very negative example, unsportsmanlike behavior born of pressure and adrenaline, but this does not justify me,” D’Aversa wrote.
However, the management of Lecce reacted harshly to the incident and fired the coach, who had led the club since June 2023.
At the moment Lecce is in 15th place in the Serie A standings, with 25 points after 28 matches. The team is only one point away from the relegation zone.
In the next match of the Italian championship, Lecce will play away against the worst team in the league, Salernitana, on March 16.