Subs, coaches seeing red as refs hear all in empty stadiums

Tommaso Berni, Inter Milan’s third-choice goalkeeper who hasn’t played in six seasons with the club, was sent off the bench for dissent during Sunday’s game at Parma.

Only two full rounds into the Italian league’s restart, four coaches have also been punished for protests: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta), Antonio Conte (Inter), Simone Inzaghi (Lazio) and Giuseppe Iachini (Fiorentina).

Others booked or sent off include an assistant coach for Juventus and the sporting directors of Cagliari and Brescia.

Fiorentina's head coach Giuseppe Iachini gestures during a Serie A soccer match between Lazio and Fiorentina at Rome's Olympic stadium, Saturday, June 27, 2020. (AP PhotoRiccardo de Luca)

In stadiums free of fan noise, Serie A’s referees have been targeting a wide array of bench members with disciplinary action.

“I’m sorry. It hadn’t happened in 2 ½ years,” Inzaghi said after invading the pitch during the frenetic finish of Lazio’s 2-1 win over Fiorentina on Saturday.

“I was trying to help the referee because there was a bit of chaos, but I wasn’t disrespectful. I just entered the field.”

Lazio's head coach Simone Inzaghi leaves the pitch after receiving a red card from the referee Michael fabbri during a Serie A soccer match between Lazio and Fiorentina at Rome's Olympic stadium, Saturday, June 27, 2020. (AP PhotoRiccardo de Luca)

But when referee Luca Banti sent Inzaghi off, the coach responded, “No, no. I won’t go.”

Inzaghi later explained, “I didn’t understand that I had been sent off.”

With stadiums empty of fans due to the coronavirus pandemic, TV cameras and microphones have been picking up nearly everything that players, coaches and bench members are saying.

Atalanta's head coach Gian Piero Gasperini reacts after getting a red card during the Serie A soccer match between Atalanta and Sassuolo at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo, Italy, Sunday, June 21, 2020. Atalanta is playing its first match in Bergamo since easing of lockdown measures, in the area that has been the epicenter of the hardest-hit province of Italy's hardest-hit region, Lombardy, the site of hundreds of COVID-19 deaths. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

Even when the benches have been moved to the first few rows of the stands, as in Parma when Berni was singled out by the referee during the second half, officials can still hear everything.

It was the second time this season that Berni was sent off from the bench, and this time, at least, it seemed to motivate his team. Inter promptly scored twice to erase an early deficit and produced a 2-1 comeback win.

Plenty of players on the field are also seeing red cards. Moments after Berni’s outburst, Parma was reduced to 10 men when midfielder Juraj Kucka was sent off for protests. Kucka then became even angrier and had to be dragged down into the tunnel by club officials.

Atalanta's head coach Gian Piero Gasperini follows the game from the stands after getting a red card during the Serie A soccer match between Atalanta and Sassuolo at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo, Italy, Sunday, June 21, 2020. Atalanta is playing its first match in Bergamo since easing of lockdown measures, in the area that has been the epicenter of the hardest-hit province of Italy's hardest-hit region, Lombardy, the site of hundreds of COVID-19 deaths. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

Fiorentina, which has been at odds with the referees in both of its matches since the restart, had defender Martín Cáceres and coach Iachini both punished for profanity during a 1-1 draw with Brescia.

After Fiorentina’s loss to Lazio, which included a controversial penalty awarded to the Roman club, club president Rocco Commisso suggested that teams should be able to appeal decisions to the VAR.

“I wouldn’t have anything against it,” said Nicola Rizzoli, Serie A’s refereeing director. “But we’ve got to remember that we’re part of a worldwide game. The rules need to be the same in Italy and abroad. At the moment this isn’t being discussed at the international level.

Inter Milan coach Antonio Conte, center, wearing a face mask, enters the pitch prior to the Italian Cup second leg semifinal soccer match between Napoli and Inter Milan, at the Naples San Paolo Stadium, Italy, Saturday, June 13, 2020. The match is being played without spectators because of the COVID-19 restriction measures. (CafaroLaPresse via AP)

“Maybe it should be tried but we can’t make sudden, personalized decisions,” Rizzoli added.

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AC Milan technical director Paolo Maldini offered a strong suggestion that the club will renew Gianluigi Donnarumma’s contract before it expires at the end of next season.

The 21-year-old goalkeeper has already taken over the starting position on Italy’s national team from Gianluigi Buffon.

“Milan needs to try and keep a player of Donnarumma’s importance,” Maldini said before Milan’s 2-0 win over Roma on Sunday. “He started in our youth system and and in my modest opinion he’s the best goalkeeper in the world.”

However, Donnarumma already earns 6 million euros ($6.7 million) per season and Mino Raiola, his agent, will be expecting a big salary increase that financially strapped Milan may not be able to afford.

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Andrew Dampf is at https://twitter.com/AndrewDampf

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Excited red-and-green clad fans were making their way to the stadium hours before kickoff as Morocco prepares to open the 35th Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday.

The party started the night before with a parade of fans through the capital city, Rabat.

The Atlas Lions, as the home team is known, are among the favorites to lift what would be just their second Africa Cup title 50 years after their only success in 1976. The final is Jan. 19 next year.

They begin their campaign against island nation Comoros, a team ranked 108th in the world and making just its second appearance in the competition.

“It's a superb match, an extraordinary occasion to get to know our team, our country,” Comoros coach Stefano Cusin said. “It's going to be a great evening of football.”

No host has lost the opening match of the tournament since Burkina Faso in 1998.

Morocco is the highest-ranked African team at No. 11. The Atlas Lions became the first African team to reach the World Cup semifinals in 2022, and the country has embarked on one of the most aggressive infrastructure buildouts in African sporting history to establish itself as a soccer power. The Kingdom is also set to be a co-host of the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal.

The opening match was to be played in Rabat’s renovated near 70,000-capacity Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, one of nine venues across five cities that were constructed or renovated for the tournament.

The mascot for the tournament is a lion named Assad, inspired by the barbary lions that once prowled the mountains of north Africa. The last known photograph of a wild lion in Morocco was taken by French army photographer Marcelin Flandrin from a flight over the Atlas Mountains in 1925.

Egypt was to begin its bid for a record-extending eighth title – and Mohamed Salah’s first – against Zimbabwe in Agadir on Monday. Defending champion Ivory Coast begins its title defense against Mozambique in Marrakech on Wednesday. Senegal and five-time champion Cameroon are also among the favorites, while Algeria is the only other country apart from Morocco to have all its matches sold out.

The future of the biennial tournament was altered Saturday with the announcement it will move to a four-year cycle to bring it in line with the FIFA calendar.

AP at the Africa Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-cup-of-nations

People take part in a parade celebrating the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations soccer competition, in Rabat, Morocco, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

People take part in a parade celebrating the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations soccer competition, in Rabat, Morocco, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

People take part in a parade celebrating the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations soccer competition, in Rabat, Morocco, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

People take part in a parade celebrating the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations soccer competition, in Rabat, Morocco, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

People dressed as mascots take part in a parade celebrating the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations soccer competition, in Rabat, Morocco, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)