Cristian Chivu, suspended four games

Four days of suspension for a punch.

Romanian defender Cristian Chivu, from Inter Milan was suspended by the disciplinary commission of Italy for four games after having punched Bari’s defender Marco Rossi in the face on Wednesday evening.

The Romanian football player punched Rossi without reason in the second half of Thursday’s clash, at 0-0.

Rossi’s team colleagues protested, but the referee did not notice the hit, and the Romanian footballer continued playing.

The Romanian footballer was suspended at the end of the match, which the Milanese team won by 3-0, on the basis of video evidence.

Cristian Chivu publicly apologized with tears in his eyes, failing to explain his gesture.

"It’s hard to explain what I did. I lost my mind for a moment. I am here because I want to apologise to Rossi, with all the dignity that I have left. I feel very bad, I’ve never done such a thing before. I apologise to everyone, above all to my two daughters who watched me on television ", Cristian Chivu said.

The Bari football team accepted the Romanian player’s apologies.

"I understand Cristian, you can have such moments of blackout during a match. It could have been in our advantage, with an eventual elimination. I accept the apologies... He will be judged by who is entitled to," Marco Rossi said.

Following the suspension, Cristian Chivu will miss the matches with AS Roma, Juventus Torino, Fiorentina and Cagliari.

Inter is the 3rd in the standings with 41 points after AC Milan (48 p) and Naples (43 p).

Translated by: Denisse-Meda Bucura
MA Student, MTTC, Bucharest University