Paris Saint-Germain was fuming on Saturday after midfielder Thiago Motta was left with a fractured nose following a bust-up in the tunnel at the end of its French Ligue 1 clash with SC Bastia.
Images from surveillance cameras in the tunnel at the Parc des Princes, obtained by several local media outlets, appeared to show Bastia's Brazilian forward, Brandao, waiting for Motta to approach him before head-butting the Brazil-born Italy international.
A mass altercation then ensued and PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi told beIN Sports Motta's nose had been fractured in the incident.
Al-Khelaifi also called for serious action to be taken against Brandao, the 34-year-old former Marseille player.
"I hope that the Bastia player who did that is very severely punished. A heavy punishment is required," he said.
Meanwhile, PSG's Brazilian captain, Thiago Silva, who is sidelined with a hamstring injury, used his Instagram account to attack Brandao.
"I want to know how many matches this guy will be suspended for ... a guy who is always disloyal!! Who always wants to talk instead of play," wrote Silva, who in May last year was suspended for shoving a referee during a Ligue 1 match against Valenciennes.
"If I got three matches two years ago for touching the referee ... Imagine an assault like that?? The fourth official saw everything, I was by his side when this guy attacked our player."
PSG coach Laurent Blanc also accused Brandao of being responsible for the injury that forced fullback Gregory van der Wiel to come off at halftime in a game the reigning champion won 2-0.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic came off injured after apparently straining a muscle in his side after just 14 minutes of the match against the Corsicans before goals from Lucas and Edinson Cavani gave PSG its first Ligue 1 win of the campaign.
|
Paris Saint Germain's Thiago Motta (center) and Bastia's Brandao (right) greet each other before the kickoff of their Ligue 1 match on Saturday. PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi wants Brandao to be banned for life after the Bastia striker allegedly head-butted Motta after the game. Michel Euler / Associated Press |
(China Daily 08/18/2014 page24)
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263 Registration Number: 130349 
