Football
Ben Gladwell, Italy correspondent 8y

Inter Milan boss Roberto Mancini apologetic over gesture to Milan fans

Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini has said he would never have made an insulting gesture to fans in England after receiving a one-match ban for doing so after being sent from the touchline as his side lost the Milan derby.

Mancini was dismissed for dissent as Inter were beaten 3-0 by AC Milan in Serie A after voicing anger that his side had not been awarded a penalty when striker Eder was challenged by goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

The former Manchester City manager was also fined €5,000 after a tribunal ruled that he had "made a derogatory remark to the fourth official when he was removed and then addressed the spectators with an insulting gesture."

He said he would not have reacted to an English crowd in the same way, adding: "They would not have stood up like that in England to insult me, so I wouldn't have made that gesture.

"Well, I've apologised. When you lose, you are always angry."

Mancini also argued with a television reporter live on air, with the incident leading the Italian union of sports reporters (USSI) to call for talks with Serie A coaches in an effort to prevent similar confrontations.

"Roberto Mancini's behaviour towards Mediaset's Mikaela Calcagno is unacceptable," the union said in a statement. "It was a display of rudeness and arrogance, and certainly it cannot be justified by the result of the match.

"Since this is not the first incident of its kind, and since other coaches of equal fame and repute as Mancini have behaved similarly towards journalists, who only asked them questions, the USSI is calling for an urgent meeting with the president of the Italian coaches association Renzo Ulivieri to address the problem."

Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri and AC Milan's Sinisa Mihajlovic have also given short shrift to Calcagno's questions on Mediaset this season.

Meanwhile, Mancini said he hoped his side could turn a corner when they host Chievo on Wednesday. Inter are nine points off the top having at one stage held a four-point lead.

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