Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini has been banned from this weekend's Serie A game with AC Milan as a result of using foul and abusive language toward....God.
The former Italy coach has been handed a one-game touchline ban having been caught on camera mouthing the phrase 'God is a Pig' during Monday's 2-0 defeat to SPAL.
There are a couple of remarkable facts here. The first is that Gasperini isn't the first Serie A figure to be punished for blasphemy this season. Udinese midfielder Rolando Mandragora picked up a one-game ban earlier this season for slagging off the Virgin Mary and calling God a 'dog'. (Rumours that he suffers from dyslexia are, as of yet, unconfirmed).
The second startling aspect of all of all of this is that the rule under which both figures have been punished isn't an anachronism lingering from decades ago, but was introduced by Serie A in 2010.
After a fine season last year, Atalanta have hit the rocks this time around: they were knocked out of the Europa League at the qualifying stages by FC Copenhagen, and lie 14th in Serie A.
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