Cristiano Giunotli suspended and fined for referee intimidation

A bad month for Cristiano Giuntoli rolls on, as the Napoli sporting director has been slapped with a fine and a stadium ban after apparently trying to intimidate a referee at halftime during the match against Empoli on Sunday.

Giuntoli, who won't be allowed in a Serie A stadium until September 30th, apparently cornered head referee Luca Banti on his way to the locker room at halftime as Napoli trailed Empoli 2-1. As you may recall, there was controversy over Empoli's second goal, as it appeared Riccardo Saponara may have handled the ball before laying it off to Manuel Pucciarelli to score the go-ahead goal. The match ended 2-2 thanks to a second-half goal from Allan, but Giuntoli and Maurizio Sarri both sounded aggrieved in post-match interviews over the incident.

The suspension isn't a great look for Giuntoli, and continues a month full of not-great-looks. This comes a week after a training ground screaming match between him and Jonathan De Guzman, and two weeks after Napoli failed to sign Roberto Soriano after apparently failing to submit paperwork to the league in time, though both Napoli and Sampdoria have blamed the other party for that deal not getting done.

After a transfer window that fans didn't love and with the team struggling, these continuous incidents form Giuntoli are just not doing anything good for the team. He needs to figure out how to get out of the spotlight for awhile instead of always staying in it.