ZINÉDINE ZIDANE apologised last night for his “unpardonable” head-butt against Marco Materazzi in Sunday’s World Cup final, but he said that he did not regret the act because the Italy defender had insulted his mother and sister.

“It was an act that was not pardonable. I apologise to all the children who might have seen it. I always tell children that they should avoid doing such things,” Zidane told CanalPlus, the French television channel, in his first explanation for the incident.

Talking to Michel Denisot, chief sports commentator for CanalPlus, in a space-age style studio with a military fatigue jacket draped over his shoulders, Zidane confirmed that Materazzi had insulted him in an exchange after he had grabbed Zidane’s shirt.

“He just put his hand on to my shirt and I told him to stop,” the France captain, who has now retired, said. “I told him that if he wanted it I could give it to him at the end of the match. Then he said very harsh words to me and repeated them several times. I left, but then I went back towards him and things went very fast.”

A lip-reader commissioned by The Times said that Materazzi had called the French Algerian “the son of a terrorist whore”. Zidane refused to go into detail yesterday, but said: “They were very hard words. It was very serious. It was about my mother and my sister. That wounds. He repeated it three times. I am a man before anything else. I would have preferred getting a right hook in the face than to hear that.

“I apologise, especially to educators and those who tell kids what to do and what not to do.” He insisted, however, that he did not regret responding to the Italian’s insults. “I cannot say that I regret my act,” Zidane said. “I apologise to all concerned but to regret it would mean that he was right to say those things.”

Zidane, 34, said that it was understandable that Fifa, the sport’s world governing body, was investigating the incident, but he insisted that Materazzi should be punished. “The guilty one is the one who created the provocation,” he said. “I have had enough of the reaction always being punished.

“You cannot think for a moment that ten minutes from the end of my career it gave me pleasure to do that.”

Materazzi, who was knocked to the ground by the butt to the chest, has acknowledged that he insulted Zidane, but he denied that he called him a terrorist or impugned his mother. And last night he said: “I didn’t mention anything about religion, politics or racism. I didn’t insult his mother. I lost my mother when I was 15. Naturally, I didn’t know that his mother was in hospital but I wish her all the best.

“Zidane is my hero and I have always admired him. It was an insult of the kind you hear dozens of times and that just slips out on the ground.”

Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, gave warning that he could strip Zidane of his Golden Ball award — presented to the World Cup’s best player — if the disciplinary committee finds against him. “I have ordered our disciplinary committee to open an inquiry. The presumption of innocence until proven otherwise is and remains a sacred principle,” he said. He noted that the Golden Ball was awarded on the basis of a vote by journalists, but added: “Fifa’s executive committee has the right and the duty to intervene when faced with behaviours that are against the ethic of sport.” Blatter said that Zidane refused to attend Sunday’s World Cup closing ceremony because he felt shame over his attack.

Whatever Fifa’s reaction, Zidane has largely been forgiven by his own country since Sunday’s defeat. “Zizou” returned on Monday to a hero’s welcome from President Chirac, who said that he represented “all the most beautiful values of sport, the greatest human qualities”.

A poll in Le Parisien has found that 61 per cent of the country forgives the footballer and 52 per cent say they sympathise with his violent reaction. Zidane has received backing from children on the immigrant housing estates on which he and over half the France side grew up. It was understandable that he should defend his honour in the face of an insult, the argument goes. Materazzi should be punished, they say.

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