SUPER Eagles striker Victor Osimhen has been punished by Italian football authorities for his conduct in Serie A on Sunday night.
The Napoli star was sent off in the 23rd minute of his side’s Serie A clash against Venezia after being judged to have struck out at Daan Heymans.
The Nigeria international appeared to be pushing the Genoa player off him during a corner kick, but Heymans went down clutching his face, and the referee gave Osimhen a red card.
Despite the dismissal, Napoli won 2-0 but they will be without Osimhen for their next two fixtures.
He has been given a two-match ban for his action, and he will miss the upcoming Serie A fixtures against Genoa and Juventus.
The incident was described in the official report as ‘voluntarily striking an opposition player with a slap to the face while the ball was at a distance.’
The 22-year-old has also been handed a €5,000 fine.
Osimhen was the only red card recipient with a two-match ban.
The other players given one-match suspensions in Serie A following red cards over the weekend are Fiorentina goalkeeper Bartlomiej Dragowski, Verona midfielder Miguel Veloso, Bologna pair Jerdy Schouten and Roberto Soriano, Roma star Nicolò Zaniolo and Salernitana’s Stefan Strandberg.
Osimhen’s time at Napoli has not been short of incidents.
Following his €80m arrival from Lille in August 2020, he broke his shoulder while on international duty with Nigeria in November, missing up to 10 matches.
He then caught Covid-19 in December while on holiday in Nigeria, then was taken to hospital with a head injury in one of the Serie A games in 2021.
Still, he scored 10 goals for Napoli and has been tipped to have a more productive time this season.
