Italian football chief sacked for 'lesbian' slur
The president of Italy's amateur football federation, Felice Belloli, was sacked from his post on Thursday following reports he made homophobic comments against women footballers, according to reports.
Belloli became the subject of an Italian football federation (FIGC) inquest last week following the comments, which were reported to management at the FIGC.
The FIGC held a meeting in Rome on Thursday and Belloli, according to a website report on La Gazzetta dello Sport, was "voted out" of his post.
Belloli's comments, made on March 5th, came to light last week in a report on www.soccerlife.it, which had obtained a trancript of the meeting.
He is reported to have said during a meeting on women's football: "That's enough, we can't keep on talking about giving money to these four lesbians."
Belloli denied he had made the comments but FIGC president Carlo Tavecchio immediately underlined the threat to Belloli's position.
"If Belloli has said these things, then it's serious. These words are hateful and unacceptable," said Tavecchio, a former president of the amateur federation.
Tavecchio was handed a ban last year after being accused of racist remarks during his campaign to take over the FIGC presidency.
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Belloli became the subject of an Italian football federation (FIGC) inquest last week following the comments, which were reported to management at the FIGC.
The FIGC held a meeting in Rome on Thursday and Belloli, according to a website report on La Gazzetta dello Sport, was "voted out" of his post.
Belloli's comments, made on March 5th, came to light last week in a report on www.soccerlife.it, which had obtained a trancript of the meeting.
He is reported to have said during a meeting on women's football: "That's enough, we can't keep on talking about giving money to these four lesbians."
Belloli denied he had made the comments but FIGC president Carlo Tavecchio immediately underlined the threat to Belloli's position.
"If Belloli has said these things, then it's serious. These words are hateful and unacceptable," said Tavecchio, a former president of the amateur federation.
Tavecchio was handed a ban last year after being accused of racist remarks during his campaign to take over the FIGC presidency.
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