Bologna midfielder Amadou Diawara claims he was wrongfully red carded after reacting to racist abuse in Genoa.
His team ran out 1-0 winners at Marassi with a Luca Rossettini goal in stoppages.
Diawara, who was already on a yellow card, received another booking during the goal celebration, but it was not entirely clear what had happened.
“I was very happy about the goal at the last minute of a hard-fought game,” the teenager told the official Bologna website.
Bologna midfielder Amadou Diawara claims he was wrongfully red carded after reacting to racist abuse in Genoa.
His team ran out 1-0 winners at Marassi with a Luca Rossettini goal in stoppages.
Diawara, who was already on a yellow card, received another booking during the goal celebration, but it was not entirely clear what had happened.
“I was very happy about the goal at the last minute of a hard-fought game,” the teenager told the official Bologna website.
“After hugging Rossettini, I simply mimed the movement of a gorilla in reaction to some monkey noises that I had heard from some spectators behind Mattia Perin’s goal.
“It was absolutely not a vulgar or offensive gesture, but a simple response to what I considered to be a lack of respect towards me.
“I am very disappointed that my gesture was taken the wrong way. In future I will learn from this experience.”
It was an ill-tempered match, as Genoa’s Diego Perotti was sent off for lashing out an elbow, his team’s eighth red card of the season.