Zinedine Zidane, the retired French soccer player who was sent off for headbutting Italian player Marco Materazzi in Sunday's World Cup Final, said that Materazzi repeatedly insulted Zidane's mother and sister, causing him to react, according to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

Zidane, who appeared on French TV tonight to explain himself, said that he does not repent his actions and believes that Materazzi also should be punished.

"There was a very grave provocation," Zidane reportedly said. "I say only that they must sanction the real culprit: the one that provoked and not only the one that reacted."

Materazzi "categorically" denied having insulted Zidane's mother noting that since his mother's death when he was a teenager, "Everyone knows for me the mother is sacred.

"I didn't say anything to him about racism, religion or politics," Materazzi told the Gazetta dello Sport today, according to La Repubblica. "Neither did I say anything about his mother. I lost my mother at 15 and it still hurts to talk about it. Zidane is still my myth (hero), I admire him very much."

Meanwhile, before Zidane's appearance, his mother Malika Zidane was quoted in British and Italian papers as saying that if Materazzi insulted her, he should be castrated.

"I praise my son for defending his family's honor. No one should have to be insulted," she said, the Mirror wrote. "I have nothing but contempt for Materazzi and, if what he said is true, then I want his balls on a platter."

The Mirror quoted an unnamed source in French soccer as saying that Zidane was razzed by the Italian player and his teammates for his baldness. Although many jumped to the conclusion that Materazzi used a racial epithet toward Zidane, the player -- of French-Algerian heritage -- apparently made no reference tonight to such remarks.

FIFA is investigating the matter, which will never likely be anything more than a he said/he said situation, since no one else was present and a range of lip-readers hired by the media has come to differing conclusions on what was said. The international soccer governing body is considering stripping Zidane of his Golden Ball, the honor awarded to the best player of World Cup tournament, as voted by the press.

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