Vazquez Case. Racist Phrases. 10-Round Suspension

The race for the top positions in the championship Serie B could have undergone a turning point: the sports judge of the cadet division has disqualified the Italian-Argentine for 10 rounds Franco Vazquez for racist phrases. The incriminated episode occurred after the final whistle of the match played by Cremonese at the "San Nicola" in Bari on February 15 (ended 1-1): the playmaker of the grigiorossi and the full-back Mehdi Dorval, playing for the Apulians, came into contact and, after a not exactly civil exchange of views on the progress of the match, the Frenchman burst into tears. A crowd of players and staff from the Apulian club gathered around him, reacting vehemently to the words uttered by Vazquez: the referee of the match, Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi from Livorno, took note of the accusations leveled by the members against Vazquez, but did not take action. In the additional investigation requested by the Federal Prosecutor's Office, details and evidence emerged that were deemed irrefutable by the Serie B sports judge: the verdict arrived in the bulletin published yesterday is a 10-match disqualification for the Italian-Argentine.

The document states that the investigations have confirmed the racially discriminatory offense: Vazquez therefore faces the same disqualification suffered in 2021 by Michele Marconi, involved in a controversial episode with the Nigerian midfielder of Chievo Verona Joel Obi. Cremonese will be able to appeal but, if it is not accepted, it will lose Vazquez until the end of the regular season and possibly also in the first game of the playoffs. BUT