The Inter and AC Milan forwards have been banned for one cup game, but this is due to the cards they picked up during the midweek fixture
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Romelu Lukaku have escaped additional punishments following their clash during the Coppa Italia quarter-final between AC Milan and Inter on Tuesday night.
Both men will serve a one-match ban from the Italian domestic cup competition, however, this was due to cards they picked up during the match itself, with authorities deciding no extra punishments are needed on top of the cautions they picked up at the time.
Ibrahimovic later picked up a second yellow card for a clumsy tackle in the second half, while Lukaku was one yellow away from a suspension before the game, and so will sit out the semi-final first leg against Juventus, as will team-mate Achraf Hakimi because of the booking he picked up.
The press release from the Italian Sports Judge confirms the bookings received at the time are the only punishments recorded, meaning Lukaku and Ibrahimovic escape additional bans following an extraordinary clash just before half-time in the derby, which Inter went on to win 2-1 thanks to a last-minute Christian Eriksen free kick.
Tempers flared up just before the break after Lukaku took exception to a foul by Milan defender Alessio Romagnoli. Ibrahimovic stepped in and squared up to the furious Belgian, with the pair going head to head while exchanging heated words.
During the confrontation, the words of both Ibrahimovic and Lukaku were picked up by the pitchside microphones, with the two players serving volleys of English back and forth.
Ibrahimovic can reportedly be heard saying: “Go do your voodoo sh*t, you little donkey. Go do your voodoo sh*t. Call your mother!”
In an apparent invitation to engage further, Lukaku can then be heard responding: “Well, let’s go inside you b*tch. We will see.”
Ibrahimovic replied by apparently repeating his earlier comment. Upon hearing the Swede’s words, the Inter striker grew increasingly annoyed, shooting back: “What did you say? Who? Who?”
He then followed Ibrahimovic as they left the pitch, repeatedly calling him a “b*tch” before delivering the message: “F*ck you and your wife, you little b*tch.”
Ibrahimovic’s voodoo reference appears to date back to a report that Everton owner Farhad Moshiri used it to explain why Lukaku left the club for Manchester United, with a representative for the player subsequently stating that he simply did not have faith in the club’s project.
Taking to social media on Wednesday, Ibrahimovic insisted that he made no discriminatory remarks – although could not resist a little dig at Lukaku by suggesting he is better than the Inter frontman.
The Swede wrote: “In Zlatan’s world there is no place for racism! We are all the same race – we are all equal! We are players. Some better than others.”
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