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Italian Soccer Player Banned Five Matches For Peeing at Fans

Giovanni Liberti was also accused of "making obscene and vulgar gestures, while showing his genital organ."
Screen capture via YouTube

Well here's a fun one: an Italian soccer player named Giovanni Liberti just got a five-match ban for vehemently answering nature's call in the general direction of rival fans, mid-game, according to the Associated Press. But perhaps the most fun part is that his Serie D club, Turris, has his back, saying that no, indeed he did not piss toward the fans—their rationale is simply delightful.

Allegedly, amid stoppage in a 3-3 draw against Sarnese, Liberti walked over and exposed himself. It's unclear who ratted Liberti out for doing his business, but the Serie D disciplinary body claims that Liberti, "urinated in the direction of the away section, making obscene and vulgar gestures, while showing his genital organ."

From there, the story gets particularly wacky—because Liberti club president, Antonio Colantonio, insists that Liberti was just doing a series of things that very precisely and coincidentally looked like someone peeing.

There's a fountain near the wall," Colantonio rationalized. "And the player… was drinking and adjusting his shirt which, by regulation, should be inside his shorts." Duh—of course that's what happened. Colantonio added, "The visiting club confirmed to us that our player did not do anything that has been alleged."

So we've got a real mystery on our hands here. Because not only is Liberti's own team claiming that Liberti didn't do it, but they've also got the backing from Sarnese. Did he do it? If not, where did the accusations come from? Show us the pee tape.