Not even 24 hours after the headbutt, D’Aversa has been dismissed (Pictures: Getty / Twitter)
Serie A side Leece have sacked manager Roberto D’Aversa after he headbutted Verona striker Thomas Henry following a fiery clash on Sunday.
The 48-year-old coach was seething after a 1-0 loss to Lecce’s relegation rivals, storming onto the pitch at full-time and confronting Henry before butting his head towards the forward in shocking scenes.
D’Aversa was shown a red card for his actions – as was Henry – and Lecce promptly released a statement condemning their manager’s behaviour.
The club said they ‘strongly condemned the actions of our manager which are against our values and those of sport’.
Now, not even 24 hours after the incident, Lecce have moved to dismiss D’Aversa and confirmed his sacking on Monday morning.
‘After the incidents that happened at the end of Lecce-Verona, Lecce announce that coach Roberto D’Aversa has been relieved of his duties.
‘We thank the coach and his staff for their work.’
D’Aversa had said his actions were ‘inexcusable’ when asked what happened afterwards, though claimed he was defending his players from the provocations of the opposition.
Henry has to be held back after D’Aversa’s headbutt (Picture: Getty)
‘I went onto the pitch to try and stop my players being sent off as Verona were provoking us a lot in the final moments of the match and after the final whistle,’ D’Aversa told Sky Sports.
On the headbutt, he added: ‘It wasn’t a nice thing to do, I know that.
‘It’s inexcusable and I’ve been to explain my actions to Verona. I didn’t come on the pitch to do that.’
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Tensions had escalated when Henry argued with Lecce defender Marin Pongracic in the final minutes of the match and boiled over after full-time.
The defeat saw Lecce drop to 15th place in the Serie A table, just one point above the relegation zone, and reports in Italy suggest D’Aversa would likely have been dismissed irrespective of the headbutt.
Former Spezia boss Leonardo Semplici is among the candidates to replace him on a short-term deal, with just 10 games left of the Serie A season.
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