MARCO MATERAZZI continued to protest his innocence yesterday as Fifa opened a disciplinary investigation into the circumstances surrounding Zinédine Zidane’s sending-off in the World Cup final.

After initially telling friends that he was the wronged party, the Italy defender changed tack, admitting that he did insult his opponent but strenuously denying that he called him a terrorist. The 32-year-old’s bizarre insistence that his poor education precluded any knowledge of terrorist activity, though, will not help his cause.

“I did insult him, it’s true, but I categorically did not call him a terrorist,” Materazzi said. “I’m not cultured and I don’t even know what an Islamic terrorist is. I held his shirt for a few seconds only, then he turned round and spoke to me, sneering. He looked me up and down arrogantly and said, ‘If you really want my shirt, I’ll give it to you afterwards’. ”

Given his poor disciplinary record, which was once raised in the Italian parliament, Materazzi is not a naturally sympathetic character, although he appears determined to try to rehabilitate his reputation. The Inter Milan centre back was adamant that he had not insulted Zidane’s mother after lip-readers claimed that he called the Frenchman “the son of a terrorist whore”.

“It was one of those insults that always fly around the pitch,” he said. “For me, the mother is sacred.”

With much of the world fascinated by what may come to be remembered as football’s most famous insult, Fifa is more concerned by the mechanics of Zidane’s sending-off. Horacio Elizondo, the referee, missed the head-butt and the testimony of Luis Medina Cantalejo, the fourth official, could prove invaluable to such an investigation, with the Spaniard saying yesterday that he saw the incident with his own eyes rather than on television replays.

“I saw it happen, I didn’t invent anything,” Medina Cantalejo said. “The ball was elsewhere and that was where the referee was looking, while the linesman was getting back into position. I always tell my fourth official to keep an eye on the players, and that is all I did.”

Raymond Domenech, the France coach, claimed that Medina Cantalejo was spurred into action by complaints from the Italy players, but he had cause to celebrate yesterday after being offered a two-year contract extension by the French football federation.