Yesterday, the international governing body of football FIFA gave its decision regarding the controversial World Cup final incident that led to the ejection of French football superstar Zinedine Zidane from the final match between France and Italy. After an investigating on the headbutting incident, FIFA bans Zidane for three games and fines him 7500 Swiss francs (£3260) for headbutting Italian player Marco Materazzi while the latter is suspended for two matches and is fined 5000 Swiss francs (£2170) for provoking Zidane.

Since the final match marked Zidane’s retirement from football, he shall engage himself in a community service work instead, a decision he willfully accepted according to FIFA. On the other hand, FIFA’s decision will disqualify Materazzi from the 2008 European Championships wherein Italy will play against Lithuania and France.

FIFA stated that the words Materazzi had uttered to Zidane were “defamatory but not of a racist nature," as some of the fans speculated. It also stated that the two players expressed apology and regret over the incident during the course of the hearings.