Zidane apparently called "dirty terrorist"

PARIS, July 10: France captain Zinedine Zidane was apparently called a ''dirty terrorist'' by Marco Materazzi before he head-butted the Italy defender yesterday's World Cup final, the anti-racism group SOS Racism today said.

''According to several very well informed sources from the world of football, it would seem that the Italian player Marco Materazzi called Zinedine Zidane a 'dirty terrorist','' SOS Racism said in a statement.

Zidane, the son of Algerian immigrants, was shown a red card after the incident and Italy went on to win on penalties after the match was tied 1-1 following extra time.

The Paris-based group called for an inquiry and said world soccer's governing body FIFA had recently toughened sanctions against racism.

''It's for this reason that SOS Racism asks in a determined fashion for FIFA to shed light on this altercation and that sanctions laid out in the official rules be applied should this be the case,'' SOS Racism said.

Neither Zidane nor Materazzi have spoken in public about what had passed between them before the incident. French television reported that Zidane would talk about the incident ''in the coming days''.

REUTERS

Related Stories:
Materazzi denies calling Zidane dirty terrorist
Great World Cup, shame about the football
Zidane's farewell party ends in tears
French fans praise Zidane despite red card