French superstar Zinedine Zidane has been banned for three games and fined $ 6,697 by FIFA for head-butting Marco Materazzi in the World Cup Final on July 9th. Following the incident that saw Zidane get dismissed from the final game, FIFA opened an investigation with both players after it was claimed that Materazzi assaulted Zidane with racist comments. After hearing both players on July 14th and 20th, FIFA announced that Materazzi will also receive a two games suspension plus a $ 4,014 fine for provoking Zidane. "During the course of the hearings, both players apologized to FIFA for their inappropriate behavior and their regret at the incident," FIFA's statement said. "They also stressed that Materazzi's comments have been defamatory but not of a racist nature." With Zidane already announcing retirement from professional football, his suspension won't be implemented, and the Frenchman agreed to do community work for three days instead of serving the ban. FIFA confirmed that such sanctions won't affect Zidane's status as the winner of the golden ball award as best player in the World Cup. "We didn't even discuss withdrawing the award from Zidane," FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren said.
