'The English are pirates' & Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini's top 10 quotes

Goal.com looks at some of the most outrageous comments to have come from the controversial 70-year-old during his time at the Stadio Renzo Barbera

19 Jun 2011 13:35:00

More On :  Palermo, Maurizio Zamparini
FEATURE
By Max De Luca

Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini is infamous in Italy for his itchy trigger finger and sensational off-the-cuff comments. The 70-year-old has a knack of courting controversy and made the headlines once again last week.
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Zamparini has spent his summer fending off interest from a number of Europe's most illustrious clubs for playmaker Javier Pastore. The Sicilian supremo has insisted that only a 'crazy' offer in the region of £44.2 million (€50m) will be enough to land the talented 21-year-old.

Former Palermo sporting director Walter Sabatini, who left the club last year in acrimonious circumstances and is now at Roma, stated that Pastore's asking price was way too high only for his former boss to hit back that the Argentine was now worth £53m (€60m).

Goal.com list Zampa's top 10 quotes, ranging from the unbelievable to the unfortunate. 

10. "THIS IS NOT A GROUP OF MEN, IT IS A TEAM OF GIRLS."

Zamparini lashed out at his side after they took a 1-0 lead into the interval only to conceded three goals in the second half and succumb to a 3-1 defeat to Torino on February 10, 2008. It was the club's fifth loss in six games, prompting him to liken his players to a bunch of schoolgirls.

9. "INTER ARE THE NEW JUVENTUS."

Zampa was less than impressed following the 2-1 loss to Inter at the Renzo Barbera last September and hit out at the referee saying his side should have been awarded at least four penalty kicks. He then went on to compare Inter with Juventus, saying the Nerazzurri are now the ones receiving all of the favours in Italy.

8. "ROSSI IS LIKE MY WIFE, I WANT HIM ALL TO MYSELF."

After firing Delio Rossi following the humiliating 7-0 loss to Udinese and claiming he "ruined Palermo", Zamparini rehired the Italian less than two months later and confessed he had a soft spot for the tactician before parting company with him once again after the season ended.

7. "JAVIER PASTORE'S RIGHT BOOT IS WORTH €40 MILLION ALONE."

With a plethora of teams chasing club jewel Javier Pastore, the Palermo president insisted that only a mega-offer would see the playmaker leave Sicily, before adding with a straight face that £35m (€40m) would not be enough to purchase one of his boots just for good measure.

6. "THE ENGLISH ARE PIRATES."

He took aim at his English counterparts whom he accused of poaching Italian youngsters before they had a chance to sign professional contracts. He chastised Premier League teams in 2008 for pillaging and harming the clubs who brought the players through their ranks and compared the English to pirates taking treasure.  

5. "IF IT WAS UP TO ME I WOULDN'T PAY THEM ANYMORE."

The Palermo patron blasted his side's performance following the 2-2 draw against lowly Treviso in March 2005. He went on to reveal that he had no intention of returning to Sicily as he was in the mood to "kick each one of them in the backside."

4. "PALERMO HAVE A COACH WITH NO BALLS."

The 70-year-old gave a frank assessment of Delio Rossi after the 1-1 draw against Bari last December. The Serie A strugglers played the match with 10 men for nearly 60 minutes but were able to erase a 1-0 deficit and earn a draw leaving Zamparini to question his coach's manhood.
3. "WE SHOULD PUT ALL OF THE REFEREES IN PRISON."

He pulled no punches following the 3-1 loss to Cagliari on January 16, claiming the 'incompetent' referee should be forced to do some hard time after Alessandro Matri scored the opening goal from an offside position. He then blasted the refereeing system in Italy and demanded an apology from the designator.
2. "I DIDN'T MEAN TO OFFEND ADRIAN MUTU WHEN I CALLED HIM A CRAFTY, LITTLE GYPSY."

Zamparini said sorry (sort of) after he blasted Mutu for opening the scoring while a Palermo player was down injured during the 1-1 draw on March 11, 2007. He was fuming at the time and blurted out, that "craftiness is a Romanian characteristic, they have it in their DNA. They developed it as part of their survival instinct," among other things. The Romanian FA were none too pleased with the remarks and demanded an apology.
1. "I WILL CUT OFF THEIR TESTICLES & EAT THEM IN MY SALAD."

He issued his most infamous rant in 2003 when he threatened to castrate the players on his team and use their testicles as toppings in his salad, which is probably going a little overboard even by Zampa's lofty standards.

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