zidane headbutt

zidane headbutt ... what do you think he told him to make him react like this
As Zidane and Italy defender Marco Materazzi were jogging up the pitch in close proximity of each other, they briefly exchanged words after Materazzi was seen tugging at Zidane's jersey before Zidane began to walk away from him. Moments later, Zidane suddenly stopped, turned around and rammed his head into Materazzi's chest, knocking him to the ground. Although play was halted, referee Horacio Elizondo did not appear to have seen the confrontation. According to match officials' reports, fourth official Luis Medina Cantalejo informed Elizondo of the incident through his headset. After consulting his assistants, Elizondo issued Zidane a red card in the 110th minute of the game.

Provocation

After video evidence suggested that Materazzi had verbally provoked Zidane, British media newspapers claimed to have hired lip readers to determine what Materazzi had said, with The Times claiming that Materazzi called Zidane "the son of a terrorist whore." In his first public comments since the incident, Zidane only partly explained that repeated harsh insults about his mother and sister had caused him to react. Materazzi admitted insulting Zidane, but argued that Zidane's behaviour had been very arrogant and that the remarks were trivial.

Materazzi also insisted that he did not insult Zidane's mother (who was ill at the time), claiming, "I didn't talk about his mother, either. I lost my mother when I was 15, and even now I still get emotional talking about her." Zidane replied that Materazzi had seriously and repeatedly insulted his mother and his sister, adding that he would "rather have taken a punch to the face than hear that". He also apologized to viewers, particularly children and educators, but said that he did not regret his offence because he felt that this would condone Materazzi's actions.Two months later, in continuing to assert the triviality of his comments, Materazzi publicly refused to apologise to Zidane, but stated his desire for reconciliation. He also offered his version of events, claiming that after he had grabbed Zidane's jersey, Zidane offered it to him sarcastically, and that he in turn replied to Zidane that he would prefer his sister. Materazzi later stated in an interview that his precise words to Zidane were: "I prefer the whore that is your sister."

Reactions

After the final, French president Jacques Chirac hailed Zidane as a national hero and called him a "man of heart and conviction". Chirac later added that he found the offence to be unacceptable, but he understood that Zidane had been provoked.Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika expressed his solidarity with Zidane in a letter of support. However, French newspaper Le Figaro called the headbutt "odious" and "unacceptable". The editor-in-chief of French sports daily L'Équipe compared Zidane's greatness to that of Muhammad Ali, but added that Ali, Jesse Owens, and Pelé had never "broken the most elementary rules of sport" as Zidane had. He questioned how Zidane could explain the offense to "millions of children around the world", but apologised for his comments the following day. Time magazine regarded the incident as a symbol for Europe's "grappling with multi-culturalism". Despite the ongoing furor, Zidane's sponsors announced that they would stick with him.

The incident was extensively lampooned on the Internet and in popular culture. In addition to becoming a staple of parody via numerous online videos, a novelty song titled Coup de Boule ("Headbutt") reached the top of the French charts. It was also parodied in the Family Guy episode titled "Saving Private Brian", and referenced in The Simpsons episode

FIFA investigation
In light of Zidane's statements, FIFA opened disciplinary proceedings to investigate the incident. FIFA also affirmed the legality of Elizondo's decision to send Zidane off, rejecting claims that Cantalejo had illegally relied on video transmission to make a decision about handling Zidane's misconduct.FIFA issued a CHF5,000 fine and a two-match ban against Materazzi, while Zidane received a three-match ban and a CHF7,500 fine. Since Zidane had already retired, he voluntarily served three days of community service on FIFA's behalf as a substitute for the match ban.