Italy angry at trophy 'gaffe'
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Irene - Holders Italy were astonished that France's Patrick Vieira and not an Italian player was asked to symbolically hand over the World Cup trophy at a pre-tournament concert, an official said on Saturday.
The president of the Italian football federation, Giancarlo Abete, said world governing body FIFA had made a "gaffe" by inviting the Senegalese-born Vieira to do the honours instead of a member of the Italian team which lifted the cup in 2006.
"Vieira didn't win that cup, Italy did," Abete said from Italy's training camp in South Africa.
At a concert held in Soweto on Thursday, Vieira - a member of the French squad which won the 1998 World Cup - handed over the famous trophy to tournament organising chief Danny Jordaan and FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Valcke.
Abete demanded an explanation from FIFA. "I think they will have no trouble in recognising they have made a gaffe," he said.
"This was a commercial event, in the best possible sense with the presence of several former players," he said. "But we received no formal invitation."
He added that Italy midfielder Andrea Pirlo was asked to attend but was unable to do so because he was receiving treatment for an injury.
"If we had been asked to send an official delegation I would have had no problem in responding positively," Abete said.
"At the federation, we have always supported promotional events for the World Cup."
Vieira, currently with English Premier League club Manchester City, played for France at the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups, but has not been selected for this year's tournament.
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