Donnarumma sends message to young goalkeeper punched by 40-year-old in Italy

“We are all with Thomas, we are all by his side, and I’m sending him a big hug. We look forward to seeing him soon in Coverciano,” Donnarumma said on Wednesday during a press conference attended by Football Italia.

The 13-year-old goalkeeper was beaten up by an adult, 40, who deliberately entered the pitch to hit him repeatedly after a football match this past Sunday.

The disgraceful incident happened in Collegno, near Turin, during the Under-14 Super Oscar tournament.

As reported by ANSA, it was a game between local sides C.S.F. Carmagnola and Volpiano Pianese. At the end of the game, which Carmagnola won 1-0, there was a clash between several players of the two teams.

The 40-year-old father of a Carmagnola player suddenly entered the field straight from the stands, punching the Volpiano Pianese goalkeeper several times and sending him to the hospital with a malleolus fracture and a contusion in the cheekbone.

Italy Delegation Chief Gigi Buffon had already expressed solidarity with the 13-year-old on behalf of the national team and the Italian Football Federation.

What Buffon said

“I’m speechless,” Buffon told Gazzetta on Wednesday.

“I’m literally stunned by what happened and, above all, disoriented because the behaviours that are now too far often repeated on football pitches, or on the sidelines, call for much deeper reflections than a more instinctive natural outrage.

“I want to send a huge hug and best wishes for a swift recovery to my fellow goalkeeper, urging him to respond to violence with forgiveness, because only with such a countercultural choice can we hope to eradicate such brutality and create a better world and environment.”