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Does striptease count as unsporting behaviour?
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Catania’s Gianvito Plasmati engaged in an unusual bit of distraction when he pulled down his shorts before team mate Giuseppe Mascara curled in a freekick during a 3-2 Serie A win over Torino.
According to Italy’s referees’ chief and former top official Pierluigi Collina, showing off your underpants to a rival goalkeeper counts as unsporting behaviour and deserved a yellow card.
“It was a student joke,” Plasmati said. “It certainly wasn’t a lack of respect for opponents and the public.”
At first no one noticed Plasmati’s stunt because pundits were more concerned with Catania’s controversial tactic of building their own wall, five metres behind the Torino wall, and then charging forward in time to avoid being offside when Mascara took the kick.
Catania boss Walter Zenga also got into trouble this weekend when he told a television interviewer to watch his back and take care of his family during an extraordinary rant.
What do you make of Catania’s antics? Are they refreshing or a bit too silly? They are certainly helping the modest club punch above their weight in Serie A.
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I loved Plasmati’s stunt. At first I thought it was just a mad way to distract Torino keeper Sereni. But, according to the Italian papers, it’s even more canny, as they say that by lowering those flary shorts Plasmati was actually try to obstruct Sereni’s view of the ball. A cunning plan, worthy of Baldrick.
The keeper should always keep his eye on the ball, not balls.