The 1-0 defeat AC Milan suffered in the hands of Napoli on Sunday, March 14, 2021, spilled over to Tuesday this week as the football association in Italy slammed a two-match ban on Milan’s Ante Rebic.
During the tension filed match, Ante Rebic could not handle a decision the game’s center referee, Fabrizio Pasqua made and had to protest against it. The 27-year-old Croatian striker did not stop there, he went on to insult the referee’s mother, calling her a prostitute.
Reports in Italy claimed that the left-winger told referee Fabrizio Pasqua that he saw the referee’s mother “being a prostitute in Naples.” The comment didn’t go down well with the referee and forced him to give Ante Rebic a straight red card in the 92nd minute.
The two-match ban slammed on Rebic will force him to miss the Serie A games against Fiorentina and Sampdoria which are scheduled to take place on March 21 and April 3 respectively.
This is the third time in the football career of Ante Rebic where he had showcased weakness in terms of being disciplined. Recall that when he was playing for German Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt between 2016 and 2019, the 27-year-old left-winger was involved in a similar controversy.
Then, it was reported that he had to be sent off during a league match for abusing a match referee while playing his last game for Frankfurt in 2019.
Ante Rebic was also involved in a controversy in 2020 which cost AC Milan a match. The 27-year-old Croatian star was sent off for a rough tackle on Juventus’ Danilo during the second leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final game. Milan ended up crashing out of the tournament on away goals rule.
Meanwhile, AC Milan‘s goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma was the second casualty in the 1-0 defeat Milan suffered in the hands of Napoli on Sunday. The 22-year-old Italian goalkeeper decided to run to the bench of Napoli at the end of the Serie A game. When he got there, he reportedly used offensive words on Napoli’s players.
Hence, the incident was reported to the disciplinary commission of the Italian football FA who decided to slam a €10,000 fine on him. In a statement the disciplinary commission issued to announce the punishment for Donnarumma’s action, the FA described the goalkeeper’s action as a “threatening and offensive attitude towards the members of the opposing club’s bench”.
The 1-0 defeat has kept AC Milan rooted on the second spot on the league table with 56 points in 27 games. While the win has taken Napoli closer to the top four. The club is now sitting on the 5th spot with 50 points in 26 games.
⏱ 90+6: It's all over! 💪#MilanNapoli 0-1
— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli) March 14, 2021
💙 #ForzaNapoliSempre pic.twitter.com/5WlMBnXFkS