The Italian national team expressed their displeasure with the officials by staging a protest at the start of their 5th-8th classification match against Spain.
In a remarkable display of dissent following the controversial Condemi incident in the quarter-finals, the Italian players turned their backs to the officials’ table during the national anthem.
At the beginning of the first quarter, Head Coach Sandro Campagna immediately called a timeout after Francesco Condemi—who was at the center of the disputed brutality call—won the opening swim-off. Condemi received a round of applause from teammates and fans as he exited the pool, visibly moved by the support.
Follow all the games live via Total Arena’s Livescoring page
When play resumed, the Italian team chose not to engage in competitive play for the next four minutes, passing the ball among themselves without any intent to score or engage in active play.
In a few instances in the first quarter, the Italians also appeared to play with a player down, to underline the point that it costed them to do so in their quarter-final clash with Hungary.
In a further demonstration of protest, during the third quarter, Nicholas Presciutti waved to the crowd and left the bench after receiving his third personal foul and subsequent exclusion from the game—a departure from the usual expectation for players to remain on the bench after such an action.
Spain eventually won the match 11-9.
The now infamous brutality incident, which prompted two official appeals from the Italian Swimming Federation (FIN), involved Condemi being penalized for allegedly committing a violent action while taking a shot. The penalty resulted in Condemi’s exclusion from the game, a four-minute substitution ban, and a penalty shot awarded to Hungary.
WATCH: Footage of the brutality decision against Francesco Condemi
Hungary capitalized on this opportunity, and despite Italy’s heroic efforts, it was Hungary who advanced to the semi-finals after a tense penalty shootout, winning 3-1 on penalties and securing a final score of 12-10.
This is a breaking news story. More updates will follow as events unfold…
For more video content, subscribe to our Youtube Channel and Tik Tok account
