This is the kind of case that we would probably not talk about in France but which could be worth a small sanction to Gianluigi Buffon, the legendary goalkeeper of Juventus Turin.
The goalkeeper is the subject of an investigation by the Italian football federation after comments that could be deemed blasphemous, the federation said on Tuesday.
The glory of Italian football, still active at 42, reportedly used a blasphemous expression when addressing teammate Manolo Portanova in Juventus' 4-0 win over Parma last weekend, justifying the opening of these investigations by the federal prosecutor Giuseppe China.
The content of these comments remains unknown and is not specified by the Italian media.
Blasphemy remains an administrative offense
The incident, which had not been captured by the cameras, was captured by an audio recording.
"The investigation will serve to clarify the situation through the possibility of listening to the person concerned," said the Italian federation.
Since 2010, in Italy, several sanctions have been taken against players or coaches having made comments considered to be a lack of respect for God or the sacred.
In Italy, blasphemy was decriminalized in 1999 but remains an administrative offense.
“Anyone who swears publicly, with invectives or outrageous words, against the divinity is punished by administrative penalties ranging from 51 euros to 309 euros.
[…] The same sanction applies to those who make public anything that is scandalous towards the dead ”, details article 724 of the Italian Penal Code.
Former captain of Nazionale and goalkeeper of PSG, record holder for the number of appearances in Serie A with 653 matches, Buffon has already in the past been forced to apologize for having pronounced “Dio porco!
», Which it is useless to translate, in the middle of a game.
He once claimed to have said "Zio" (uncle).
Last week, AS Roma player Bryan Cristante was suspended from a blasphemy game after scoring against his side.