​Roberto D’Aversa, the Lecce coach who head-butted Hellas Verona’s Thomas Henry on Sunday, has been sacked, the Italian club announced on Monday.

Roberto D’Aversa (Lecce) sent off for a headbutt on Thomas Henry

“Following the events that took place at the end of the match between Lecce and Verona, the club announces that it has dismissed coach D’Avers,” said a press release on X.

Roberto D’Aversa headbutted Thomas Henry after his side’s 1-0 defeat in the Italian Serie A match on Sunday.

The incidents escalated into utter confusion as players and staff from the two teams pushed and shoved at the final whistle.

As Henry appeared to be heading for the locker room, D’Aversa approached him and headbutted him. Later both received red cards.

“I went on the pitch to avoid my players being sent off because in the last minutes of the match and after the final whistle the Verona players made a lot of challenges,” D’Aversa explained to Sky Sport after the match.

The Lecce coach, in charge from June 2023, then apologized to Henry, Verona, his managers, Lecce fans and Italian football in a message posted on social media.

He denied that Henry hit his head, insisting that “it was physical contact, frontal contact.”

Henry also posted a message on his social media where he claimed to have been hit in the head: “Nothing justifies and will never justify getting hit in the head on the way to the locker room, glad I got the three points.” said the 29-year-old.

In a statement released soon after, Lecce “strongly condemned the coach’s gesture, which is against our principles and values ​​of sport,” according to News.ro.