Ascoli coach Marco Giampaolo has been suspended until the end of the season because he lacks the necessary qualifications to take charge of a Serie A team.
Giampaolo has been at Ascoli nominally as assistant coach to Massimo Silva, but the Italian Football Federation ruled that Giampaolo was in fact the head coach, while Silva was acting as his assistant.
Giampaolo needs to complete a federation course to be qualified to coach in Serie A.
The suspension means Giampaolo will not be allowed to sit on the bench and will be forced to watch matches from the stands from now on.
“I accept the sentence but I am disappointed to have to end this season in such a manner,” Giampaolo told the Italian news agency ANSA.
“Myself and Massimo will continue to work as we have been doing during the week and then on Sunday it will be he, the coach, who will go on the bench,” he said.
“My future looks pretty bleak. You need to have the right qualifications and I don’t have them this year, I won’t have them next year or the year afterwards if the rules don’t change in the meantime,” he said.
“I hope that my case will be used to change the rules although there is no sign of that being likely.”
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