Inter president investigated for insulting league president

Posted March 03, 2020 6:00 am

The Associated Press

FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2020 file photo, Inter Milan President Steven Zhang follows the Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Cagliari at the San Siro Stadium, in Milan, Italy. The Italian soccer federation prosecutor opened an inquiry Tuesday, March 3, 2020 into Zhang's post insulting Serie A president Paolo Dal Pino for the way the Italian league is handling the fallout from the virus outbreak. (Fabio Ferrari/Lapresse via AP, file) The Associated Press

ROME (AP) - Inter Milan president Steven Zhang is facing disciplinary action for insulting Serie A president Paolo Dal Pino in an Instagram post reacting to the way the Italian league is handling the fallout from the virus outbreak.

The Italian soccer federation opened an inquiry Tuesday into Zhang's post.

In an Instagram story, Zhang called Dal Pino 'œthe biggest and darkest clown I have ever seen.'ť

Ten Serie A matches have been postponed over the last two weekends because of the virus outbreak in Italy, where more than 50 people have died and more than 2,000 have been infected.

After initially deciding that games last weekend could be held in empty stadiums, Serie A then decided hours before kickoff that the games would be postponed until May.

The schedule could be altered again at an emergency league assembly in Rome on Wednesday, amid reports that some of the postponed games could be made up over the next week.

Much of the controversy has centered around the Juventus-Inter game, known as the 'œDerby d'Italia'ť or Italy's derby, which was originally scheduled for last weekend. The league's decision to postpone the game was seen as being dictated by Juventus, which did not want to play a home game in an empty stadium.

'œIt's time to stand up and take your responsibility,'ť Zhang wrote about Dal Pino.

Meanwhile, the second legs of the Italian Cup semifinals (Juventus-AC Milan and Napoli-Inter) are scheduled to go ahead this week; with fans in the virus-affected areas banned from attending the Juventus-Milan game.

Last week, Inter played Ludogrets inside an empty stadium in the Europa League.

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Inter Milan, left, and Ludogorets line-up inside the empty San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy ahead of their Europa League round of 32 second leg soccer match Thursday Feb. 27, 2020. Inter beat Ludogorets 2-1 in an empty stadium as a precaution because of the virus outbreak in Italy. (Emilio Andreoli, UEFA via AP ) The Associated Press

People walk outside San Siro stadium where a notice advising that the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Genoa is postponed to May 13, 2020, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, March 1, 2020. In Lombardy, the hardest-hit region by the spread of the Coronavirus, schools and universities were ordered to stay closed, and sporting events were canceled.(Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP) The Associated Press

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