Zidane, who appeared on French TV tonight to explain himself, said that he does not repent his actions and believes that Materazzi also should be punished.
"There was a very grave provocation," Zidane reportedly said. "I say only that they must sanction the real culprit: the one that provoked and not only the one that reacted."
Materazzi "categorically" denied having insulted Zidane's mother noting that since his mother's death when he was a teenager, "Everyone knows for me the mother is sacred.
"I didn't say anything to him about racism, religion or politics," Materazzi told the Gazetta dello Sport today, according to La Repubblica. "Neither did I say anything about his mother. I lost my mother at 15 and it still hurts to talk about it. Zidane is still my myth (hero), I admire him very much."
Meanwhile, before Zidane's appearance, his mother Malika Zidane was quoted in British and Italian papers as saying that if Materazzi insulted her, he should be castrated.
"I praise my son for defending his family's honor. No one should have to be insulted," she said, the Mirror wrote. "I have nothing but contempt for Materazzi and, if what he said is true, then I want his balls on a platter."
The Mirror quoted an unnamed source in French soccer as saying that Zidane was razzed by the Italian player and his teammates for his baldness. Although many jumped to the conclusion that Materazzi used a racial epithet toward Zidane, the player -- of French-Algerian heritage -- apparently made no reference tonight to such remarks.
FIFA is investigating the matter, which will never likely be anything more than a he said/he said situation, since no one else was present and a range of lip-readers hired by the media has come to differing conclusions on what was said. The international soccer governing body is considering stripping Zidane of his Golden Ball, the honor awarded to the best player of World Cup tournament, as voted by the press.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
