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Milan - A homophobic rant at Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini has cost Napoli handler Maurizio Sarri a 20,000 euros fine and a two-game Italian Cup touchline ban, Serie A officials announced Thursday.
Sarri, 57, hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons on Tuesday when he called Mancini a "poof" during a heated dispute after his side's quarter-final Cup defeat to the Nerazzurri.
Sarri, who has steered Napoli to the top of the league in his first season in charge, claimed the slurs were said in the heat of the moment and since apologised.
But Serie A chiefs reacted to the controversy by banning him from Napoli's next two Cup games, the punishment to be served out next season following Napoli's exit from the competition on Tuesday.
A statement said the punishment was handed down after: "Sarri, in the 47th minute of the second half, seriously insulted the opposition team coach. The infractions were noted by the fourth official and by federation officials."
Mancini was handed a 5,000 euros fine for "intimidating behaviour towards the opposition team coach who had insulted him" and "for disrespecting the fourth official after the match".
Although the dispute between the coaches was visible from television pictures, Mancini revealed the extent of Sarri's insults in post-match interviews.
The Napoli coach has since been branded a "racist" and a "homophobe" and prompted an angry response from gay rights campaigners.
Sarri apologised to Mancini immediately after the match and claimed not to be a homophobe, but the Inter boss also accused him of racism.
"Maurizio Sarri is a racist and men like him have no place in football," fumed Mancini to RAI TV after the game.
"He used racist words. He started insulting me and then shouted at me, calling me a poof."
