Most of France forgives Zidane head butt -poll

PARIS, July 11 (Reuters) A majority of French people forgive France captain Zinedine Zidane for head-butting Italy defender Marco Materazzi in Sunday's World Cup final, a poll published in the le Parisien newspaper showed today.

Of the 802 people polled, 61 percent said they forgave Zidane for the act of fury which earned him a red card in the second half of extra time when the match was tied 1-1. Italy went on to win on penalties.

However 27 percent said they did not forgive him.

Asked whether they understood Zidane's reaction to apparent provocation by Materazzi, 52 percent of those polled said they did, while 32 percent said they did not.

Paris-based anti-racism group SOS Racisme said yesterday Materazzi apparently called Zidane a ''dirty terrorist'', citing ''several very well informed sources from the world of football''.

Materazzi denied the report but did not say what he told the 34-year-old who has said Sunday's match would be his last.

Zidane has not explained his actions publicly. French television said he would talk about the incident ''in the coming days''.

The poll was carried out by pollster CSA yesterday. The respondents were aged 15 and over.

Reuters DH RS1612