Former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta has called for Alessandro Bastoni to be banned from the national team after the Inter Milan defender's unsporting behaviour vs Juventus.
In a thrilling Serie A encounter, Inter won 3-2 at the San Siro to move eight points clear at the top of the league table. Andrea Cambiaso's own goal put the home team infront but he then made amends, bagging an equaliser on the 26th minute. It took until the second half before Pio Esposito put Inter ahead again, but once more Juventus replied, this time through Manuel Locatelli.
In the 90th minute, though, Piotr Zielinski struck a winner, giving Cristian Chivu's side a 3-2 win. However, the game was massively influenced by a red card in the 42nd minute, handed to Pierre Kalulu.
Pierre Kalulu Red Card Prompts Fury in Italy
Kalulu was sent off after Bastoni – who has been linked with a move to Liverpool in recent times – threw himself to the ground and immediately gestured towards the referee, demanding a card, indicating that Kalulu had grabbed his shirt to bring him down. Federico La Penna was fooled by the clear dive, and sent off the Juventus player as it was a second bookable offence.
With VAR unable to intervene on yellow card decisions, Juventus were down to 10 men for the entire second half. The incident has sparked a huge reaction in Italy, with many upset by Bastoni's dive as well as his shameless celebration after getting Kalulu sent off.
It was so bad, in fact, that former Italian Prime Minister Letta, who was in office between 2013 and 2014, has urged severe punishment for the defender. Taking to social media, he wrote:
"Bastoni shouldn't be called up to the national team."
Bastoni is a key figure for Italy and it would be a huge call for him to be dropped with Gli Azzurri yet to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. They will take on Northern Ireland in the playoffs before then potentially going on to face Wales or Bosnia in the final round of secondary qualification.
Giorgio Chiellini Rages as Serie A Accept Mistake
Juventus coach Luciano Spalletti and director Giorgio Chiellini later confronted La Penna in the tunnel, with the latter saying: "It's hard to talk about football after what happened today.
"Something unacceptable has happened again, and you can't ruin a game of this importance. This is a show that we are putting on for the world, we need to change something immediately, without wasting time, as often happens in Italian football. Since the beginning of the year, we've been saying that there is no adequate structure for the league. We cannot continue like this. Decisions like the one made tonight cannot be taken lightly."
Serie A’s referee designator Gianluca Rocchi said match official La Penna was “clearly wrong” and apologised over the incident. He explained to Italian media:
“We are very sorry about the incident, about La Penna’s decision, which was clearly wrong, and about the fact that VAR could not be used to rectify it. La Penna is mortified and we are close to him, but I have to tell you the truth that he is not the only one who made a mistake, because yesterday there was clear simulation.”