After scoring a
brilliant hat-trick, Zlatan Ibrahimovic hot temper striker of Paris
Saint-Germain’s will find out on thursday his punishment for comments attacking
France and its referees.
The thirty-three “33” years
old Swedish star faces up to five matches on the Ligue 1 sidelines for a widely
televised rant in which he said France did not deserve a team like the
star-studded Paris Saint-Germain because of the way it is treated.
The French league’s
disciplinary commission, which starts hearing his case at 1600 GMT could impose
a four match ban on Ibrahimovic and activate a suspended one match ban imposed
in January.
Ibrahimovic will already
be missing for the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Barcelona
next week after his sending off against Chelsea in the last 16.
The hearing has
tarnished another stellar week for the Swede whose hat-trick in a 4-1 French
Cup semi-final win over Saint Etienne took him to 102 goals for Paris
Saint-Germain in less than three seasons.
He is now only seven
goals behind the club record 107 by Portuguese star Pauleta.
But the Swede’s stormy
personality keeps getting him in trouble.
He was banned for two
matches in February for a foul on Saint-Etienne’s Romain Hamouma which was not
immediately seen by the referee but was caught on video. Another match ban was
suspended.
Ibrahimovic has since
been banned by Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for his sending off against Chelsea. And televised images
were again his downfall against Bordeaux in March.
Furious at referee
decisions in the game which PSG lost despite Ibrahimovic’s two goals, the Swede
appeared to insult a match official as he left the field.
And he went on: “In fifteen
“15” years, I have never seen such a referee. In this shit country, this country
does not deserve PSG. We are too good for this country.”
Amid a political furore,
Ibrahimovic quickly made a video apology for the comments.
With Ibrahimovic in
domineering form, Paris will miss him for any lengthy suspension as they target
an unprecedented domestic championship, French Cup and League Cup treble.
Paris coach Laurent
Blanc reckons a quadruple with the Champions League is also possible.
our reporter said it was
not certain whether Ibrahimovic will attend Thursday’s hearing.
The reports said his
representatives will plead that the outspoken player was not targeting any
particular individual in his tirade.
It was stated that no
matter the punishment, Ibrahimovic will be eligible to play in Saturday’s
League Cup final against Bastia.
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