Sampdoria striker Antonio Cassano on Tuesday received a five-match ban for insulting and threatening the referee during Sunday's 2-2 draw with Torino.
Inflicting the unusually tough penalty, Italian soccer's disciplinary board stressed how the former Italy player repeatedly swore at the ref, threw his jersey at him and had to be restrained from attacking him by players of both sides.
It further noted that, ignoring repeated appeals from club officials, Cassano remained at the head of the tunnel leading onto the field, shouting to the ref that he would be waiting to ''sort him out'' after the game.
Cassano is known for temperamental antics which have prompted journalists to coin the word ''cassanata'' to describe each fresh outbreak.
But Sunday's behaviour was seen as bizarre even by Cassano's standards - and probably enough to scotch his hopes of playing his way back into the Italy squad for this summer's European championships.
Commenting on the ban, ex-Italy and Inter great Roberto Boninsegna said ''it doesn't seem long enough to me''.
''I got a lot longer for much less,'' said Boninsegna, who was handed an 11-match ban in 1968 for insulting and pushing a ref.
''OK, I did try to attack the ref, but I didn't tear off my shirt and throw it at the ref or tell him I'd be waiting for him in the parking lot,'' said the Mexico 1970 hero.
Boninsegna is third in Serie A's all-time 'bad boy' rankings behind a Palermo midfielder who broke a Roma rival's leg in 1950, initially getting a life ban, and a Triestina defender who also got an initial life ban for punching a ref in 1947.
Juve legend Omar Sivori is high on the list with a six-match ban for a 1968 brawl with Napoli players.
Inter defender Marco Materazzi, known to many for receiving the head-butt that ended Zinedine Zidane's World Cup Final, also boasts one of the longest penalties, a two-month ban for punching a Siena player in the tunnel in February 2004.
