Serie A club Lecce have sacked head coach Roberto D'Aversa following an incident where he appeared to headbutt an opposition player
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Serie A club Lecce has terminated the contract of head coach Roberto D'Aversa following an incident where he appeared to headbutt an opposition player in a 1-0 home defeat to Hellas Verona.
On Sunday, the 48-year-old had a confrontation with Verona striker Thomas Henry, who had received a red card in the 97th minute.
The referee, Daniele Chiffi, subsequently showed D'Aversa a red card for his actions.
After the ordeal, Leece released a statement stating that they condemned D'Aversa for lashing out, deeming it to be against the principles and values of sportsmanship.
The Serie A club have sacked Roberto D'Aversa (Image credit: Getty Images)
Then a second statement issued on Monday officially announced D'Aversa's dismissal. It read: "After the events that occurred at the end of the Lecce-Verona match, US Lecce announces that it has relieved coach Roberto D’Aversa of his duties." The statement also expressed gratitude to their former head coach and his staff for their work.
After the game, D’Aversa apologised for the headbutt. He told Sky Italia: “Henry and I came into contact, the gesture wasn't nice to see, my intention was to divide everyone, but he continued to provoke. We spoke to the managers and that was it. I certainly didn't enter the field to headbutt a player and it was nothing premeditated.
"Otherwise I would have said so. Looking back at the images they say one thing, I say that they are the consequence of a series of provocations at the end of the match. I've already spoken to the Verona managers. I apologise for the gesture, it's not nice to see."
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Roberto D’Aversa also had spells managing Parma and Sampdoria (Image credit: Getty Images)
Leece have been in poor form prior to the headbutt and Sunday’s match, having only won two league games since October, and the incident was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
D'Aversa joined The Salentini at the beginning of the season on a one-year contract with a potential 12-month extension if he steered the club away from relegation.
Before Leece, D’Aversa had managerial spells at Parma, where he spent two consecutive tenures spanning 184 games, as well as Sampdoria, where he lasted just 24 matches in all competitions. Following their 1-0 loss to Verona, Leece sit 15th in the Serie A table, but just one point above the relegation zone with 10 games to go.
Jacque Talbot is a freelance football journalist who predominantly specialises in transfer stories and exclusives. He began his career in 2016 covering the world-renowned Sandbach United, of North West Counties fame, before earning a spot on the sports desks of national papers, where he bounced between several outlets such as Sportbible, the Express, Mirror, and Daily Star. An NCTJ graduate of the News Associates who swapped investigative journalism in the Costa del Sol for football reporting in Northern England, he first wrote for FourFourTwo in December 2023.
