Inter concern over Materazzi ban

Materazzi will miss Italy's next two matches because of a Fifa ban

Inter Milan president Giacinto Facchetti fears Fifa has set a worrying precedent after banning Marco Materazzi for insulting Zinedine Zidane.

Fifa handed Italy defender Materazzi a two-game ban for his part in Frenchman Zidane's World Cup final dismissal.

But Inter president Facchetti backed his player insisting: "Cases like this rewrite laws and create precedents.

"It forces disciplinary committees to call both players involved in provoking reactions and reactions."

Zidane was handed a three-match suspension for the dramatic headbutt on Materazzi that led to his sending-off, the standard penalty for violent conduct.

I wish to underline the disproportion for the penalty inflicted on Materazzi Inter Milan president Giacinto Facchetti

However, as the 34-year-old has retired he will instead spend three days doing humanitarian work for Fifa.

But following an investigation, Materazzi was also punished with a two-game ban and fined £2,170 after being found guilty of provoking Zidane.

Facchetti added: "While the respect and the consideration I have for Fifa remains, I wish to underline the disproportion for the penalty inflicted on Materazzi and the one inflicted on the French player."

Guido Rossi, the man brought in to clean up the game in Italy after the recent corruption scandal, hinted that the Italian Football Federation would not appeal against Materazzi's ban.

The judgement rules the 32-year-old out of the Azzurri's Euro 2008 qualifiers against Lithuania on 2 September and France four days later in a rematch of the World Cup final.

Rossi said: "The definitive verdict of the Fifa disciplinary committee will be respected by us.

"But the episode will remain consigned to the TV images and to the public opinion of the entire world."

Zidane spent 90 minutes at his private Fifa hearing on Thursday, while Materazzi appeared before a separate Fifa panel on 14 July.

He maintained throughout his hearing that his comments to Zidane were neither "racist, religious, or political" and he added: "I also said nothing about his mother."