TV evidence against Costa’
By Football Italia staff
The FIGC prosecutor confirms television evidence “starting from the elbow” on Federico Di Francesco will be used to punish Juventus winger Douglas Costa.
The Brazilian completely lost his head at the end of yesterday’s match, throwing an elbow at Di Francesco before attempting to headbutt him.
He was then caught by VAR spitting into the Sassuolo man’s face, and he
faces a ban of at least three games and a hefty fine.
According to ANSA, FIGC prosecutor Giuseppe Pecoraro has written to the giudice sportivo to confirm that television images will be reviewed “starting from the elbow, to asses the behaviour of the Juventus player as a whole”.
The spit in itself would usually incur a three game ban, as it did for Ezequiel Lavezzi and Aleandro Rosi in 2011, but with the elbow and the headbutt Douglas Costa faces an extended period on the sidelines.
The prosecutor also reported anti-Neapolitan chanting from a section of the Juve support, with the giudice sportivo to release its disciplinary report tomorrow once all of Week 4’s Serie A games are completed.
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Douglas Costa facing three game ban
By Football Italia staff
Juventus winger Douglas Costa is facing a ban of at least three games and a fine of up to €100,000 for spitting on Sassuolo’s Federico Di Francesco.
The Brazilian lost his head toward the end of the Bianconeri’s win yesterday, swinging an elbow at Di Francesco before attempting to headbutt him.
That earned him just a yellow card, but he was sent off when VAR caught him spitting in his opponent’s face.
Douglas Costa will face a lengthy ban when the disciplinary sanctions are released tomorrow, with Gazzetta dello Sport explaining that a spit falls under the remit of violent conduct.
That would incur at least a three game ban, which would see him miss Frosinone away, Bologna at home and Napoli in Turin.
Violent conduct can incur a longer ban though, climbing to five games if it’s considered to be particularly serious.
La Repubblica notes that Juve appeared to imply some form of provocation, but unless they present evidence to back that up Costa could be fined up to €200,000.
Meanwhile, La Stampa looked at previous cases, noting that Sinisa Mihajlovic got an eight game ban in the Champions League for spitting at Adrian Mutu.
Francesco Totti was given a four game ban for spitting at Euro 2004, while Napoli’s Ezequiel Lavezzi got three games in 2011 for spitting on Aleandro Rosi of Roma.
After television footage was reviewed it was confirmed that Rosi had also been guilty of spitting, and he was given a three match ban.
LOL - this guy royally fucked himself. Way to think of the club and your teammates first, DC.
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lol his spitting photo is all over the fucking place