He loses his mind and attacks the'opponent, then makes mea culpa

It has the unbelievable what happened in the final minutes of the challenge valid for Game 1 of the semifinals playoffs of the interregional B championship between Basketball Lucca and Costone Siena: the captain of the home team Andrea Barsanti hit Matteo Paoli in the face.

The gesture cost three days of disqualification to Barsanti who then made mea culpa on Facebook: “I would like to sincerely apologize for what happened at the end of the game of Game 1 of the semifinal playoffs. In the tense atmosphere that had been created in the last minutes of the game, I made an impulsive and wrong gesture by hitting opposing player Matteo Paoli with a slap.”

“It was a behavior that I recognize as unjustifiable and contrary to the sporting values that should always characterize a competition. I am deeply sorry for what happened and I would like to make it clear that it was not my intention to cause any physical harm to the player.”

“I assume, therefore, full responsibility for my gesture and offer my apologies to Matteo first and foremost, to his team and society, to my club and team, to the referees and to all those who were present. I will accept, as is right and in view of my mistake, any sanction that will be taken against me and I would like to be able to personally apologize to Matteo to try to make him understand, by looking him in the eyes, my sincere feeling of regret,” the post reads.

The Lucca club released an official note: “Basketball Club Lucca, following what happened at the end of the match and the behavior of which the athlete Andrea Barsanti was responsible, wishes first of all to firmly distance itself from the incident and strongly condemn the unspeakable gesture, for which appropriate disciplinary measures will be taken.

“This is behavior that has nothing to do with the values of sport and that brings discredit on the BCL, a club that has always made sports fairness one of its fundamental principles. We also want to offer our apologies, first and foremost to the athlete Paoli and to the Costone Siena club, with which there have always been relationships of mutual esteem and respect.”