Former Juventus striker Cristian Bunino has made headlines in Italy after bizarrely being sent off for urinating on the touchline during a third-tier match.
Bunino, 26, plays for Serie C side Lecco and was due to be brought on as a second-half substitute in their Group A game away to Piacenza, which ended 0-0 on Sunday. In the 73rd minute, manager Luciano Foschi called on the twice-capped Italy Under-19 international to make an entrance - but mother nature called and he was shown a red card before getting a minute.
As he prepared to enter Sunday's contest, Bunino relieved himself on the touchline, slyly attempting to hide what he was doing. Unfortunately for the ex-Juve forward, an assistant referee spotted his unsavoury antics. Bunino was promptly shown a red card, as per the Italian football rulebook, with the players already on the pitch being left rather bemused.
Lecco boss Foschi defended his striker's actions and pleaded for some understanding from the match officials after the match. "It's the rules and they must be applied, but I was hoping that the officials would use common sense because he didn't offend anyone and no one saw it," Foschi said of the incident, per Gazzetta dello Sport. "I was hoping for a yellow card, but the referee didn't make a mistake. And Bunino? In my opinion, he didn't even know what was going to happen."
Lecco still managed to come away with a point but they'll be without the 26-year-old due to what is surely the most strange suspension Italian football will see this season. Although Bunino was contracted to Juventus, he never made a first-team appearance.
Instead, he racked up nine goals and three assists across 34 games for the club's under-23s, Juventus Next Gen. His most prestigious appearances came in Serie B as a youngster, playing a total of 32 games for Livorno, Pescara and Vercelli.
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Bunino did manage to meet Cristiano Ronaldo during the pair's time at Juventus. "It was a unique experience, very inspiring and rewarding," he wrote on Instagram, posing next to Ronaldo. "For your charisma and dedication to your work, you inspire everyone, not just young people, to want to do more and always better. The strongest player of all time."
Now in the third division, Bunino welcomed his first child with girlfriend A lessia Verduci in January. They named the baby girl Niki.
