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Zenga faces sack over Dubai holiday

Sampdoria coach Walter Zenga is on the verge of being sacked after flying to Dubai for a holiday without telling the club, reports in Italy said on Monday.

Zenga faces sack over Dubai holiday
Under-fire manager Walter Zenga has angered the hierarchy at Sampdoria by taking an unannounced trip to Dubai. Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP

Former Italian goalkeeper Zenga took over the reins at the start of the season looking to carry on the work of Sinisa Mihajlovic, who led Sampdoria to a seventh place finish and a potential Europa League place before moving to AC Milan.
   
Sampdoria's hopes of qualifying for Europe's second tier competition were ended by a 4-0 defeat at home to Vojvodina in preliminary round.

And after a promising start to life in Serie A, the Genoa-based club have dropped steadily down the table.

On Sunday, Fiorentina handed Sampdoria their fourth defeat of the season, and their first at home, to regain top spot in Italy with Zenga's men dropping to 10th place, 11 points adrift.

Some hardline supporters called on club president Massimo Ferrero to sack Zenga, claiming the former Inter Milan great – who made 58 appearances for Italy and came to be known as 'L'Uomo Ragno' (Spider Man) – isn't up to the job.
   
Some reports claim Ferrero will give Zenga until the away trip to Udinese in a fortnight, following the international break, before making any decision on the 55-year-old's future.
   
However, Sky Sport Italia claims Ferrero could act in a matter of hours, with former club coach Gigi Delneri reportedly in the frame.

According to the website of Gazzetta dello Sport, Ferrero attempted to call Zenga to his office on Monday to sack him only to discover the coach had decided to benefit from the break for international football to fly to Dubai for a short holiday.
   
The report said Zenga “could now be fired by email”.

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RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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