Samuel Eto'o receives fine and three-match ban
Inter Milan's Cameroonian international striker Samuel Eto'o will not play in Serie A until 2011 after receiving a three-match ban and being fined 30000 euros for an incident involving he and Chievo's
Bostjan Cesar during last Sunday 21 November's match.
In an incident which was eerily reminiscent of Zinedine Zidane's head butt to the chest of Italy's Marco Materazzi during the 2006 World Cup Final, Eto'o drove his head into the chest of Cesar sending him to ground. Eto'o appeared upset after Cesar
was called for a foul while the Cameroonian was shielding the ball and Cesar appeared to unintentionally strike Eto'o in the face. Cesar appeared to be saying something to Eto'o as the two jogged away from the spot of the foul when Eto'o made his charge.
Neither player received a caution on the play, but evidence on video replay made it easy for the league to slap Eto'o with their punishment.
A statement released by the league read, "The television images show that under the circumstances, the Chievo player Cesar was reached by the Inter striker who hit him with his head on the chest, making him fall
to the ground in pain. The referee did not, at the time of the incident, take action as his attention was to control the other area of the field with his assistants. The Judge thus retains that Eto'o's actions constitute violent conduct in light of the television
proof."
Eto'o will miss upcoming matches against Parma and Lazio, as well as a match against Cesena early in the new year. It's already been a tough season for the reigning champions who currently sit in sixth spot with 20 points from 13 matches.
The team has had to battle through several injuries this season and Eto'o, the team's leading scorer, did not help them with his antics. His team-mates were not about to support him either as Javier Zanetti told reporters,
"Eto'o has enough experience and he himself knows he made a mistake. We didn't need this, especially now with so few men available. He made a big mistake and he's going to be punished for it."
Cesar was not punished by the league for his involvement in the incident and Inter Milan plan to appeal the ruling.
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