A manager of an Italian youth team has been controversially sacked after showing a 'lack of respect' in his side's 27-0 demolition of their opponents.
Under-18s side Invictasauro, who are based in the Grosseto region of Tuscany, were in action against Marina Calcio on Saturday and ruthlessly tore their opponents apart.
But the scoreline didn't impress the Invictasauro uppers and resulted in coach Massimiliano Riccini being axed from the youth team.
Invictasauro president Paolo Brogelli was disappointed with how his side disrespected their opponents and insisted the "opponent must always be respected."
He said in a statement: "We were stunned and deeply regretful when hearing that our Juniores team had beaten Marina Calcio 27-0.
"The values of youth team football are antithetical to such a thing. The opponent must always be respected and that did not happen today.
"As president, I sincerely apologise to the Marina club. I announce that our directors decided, unanimously, to sack coach Riccini.
"Our coaches have the duty to train young players, but above all to educate them. That did not happen today."
Riccini has since released a statement to Italian publication GrossetoSport and argued his side didn't play with the intention of humiliating their opponents.
"No-one in the Invictasauro has ever thought of humiliating or ridiculing the adversary voluntarily," he said.
"We played without sectarianism, without competitive malice and committing very few fouls.
"Juniores are old enough to understand situations.
"Scoring 27 goals is not lack of respect, it would have been to make a 'bull' for 80 minutes or help the opposing team to score a few goals.
"The real defeat is to see how much hypocrisy, banality and poverty of mind come out without any knowledge of the facts."
According to ESPN, Marina are the bottom side in their league while Invictasauro are the league leaders.
Marina sporting director Tiberio Pratesi complained after the match at how their side had been humiliated in the clash.
And Marina were plagued with a 'string of injury problems' and were forced to play one of their outfield players in net.
Invictasauro's 27-0 demolition had two players score six times, while one of their teammates ended the match with seven goals.
Featured Image Credit: Grosseto/FoxTopics: Football News, Football
