The veteran Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has been handed a one-match ban for making a ‘blasphemous expression‘ and will miss Saturday’s Turin derby with Torino.
The Italian Federal Court of Appeal ruled against the 43-year-old on Tuesday.
Buffon was initially given a €5,000 fine over an incident which took place during a Serie A clash against Parma in December 2020.
The ageing Azzurri netminder was overheard using a “blasphemous expression” towards team-mate Manolo Portanova during Juve’s 4-0 league win over Parma on December 19th.
That sanction was appealed by the federal prosecutor, which was accepted by the Federal Court of Appeal, with Buffon’s punishment upgraded to a one-match suspension.
Back in 2010, the ‘Blasphemy Law’ was introduced and a number of players in Serie A have previously been caught out.
Many Italians consider blasphemy to be the worst kind of swearing in what remains a deeply religious, mostly Catholic country.
Buffon has only played five Serie A games this season with Poland’s Wojciech Szczesny the first-choice keeper.
