Zidane gives his side of the story in a TV interview on Wednesday. (AFP)

Paris: Zinedine Zidane said on Wednesday that Italian defender Marco Materazzi insulted his mother and sister during the World Cup final.

In an interview to a French television channel, Zidane also apologised to children and fans but did not regret the attack that led to his sending-off.

The French captain reacted to the insult by ramming his head into Materazzi’s chest in the second half of the extra-time of the final match.

“He (Materazzi) pulled my shirt several times and I told him that we could swap shirts at the end of the game if he wanted to,” Zidane said in the interview.

“He said some tough words about my mother and my sister. I tried not to listen to him but he kept repeating them,” Zidane said.

“I knew it was my last game and that there were only 10 minutes to play but things happened very swiftly”, he said.

“I am a man before anything else,” he added.

Zidane, widely regarded as the greatest player of his generation and playing the last game of his career, was shown a red card, leaving his teammates to finish the match without him.

Zidane denied Materazzi called him an Islamic “terrorist”, as was reported by a Paris-based anti-racism group.

Zidane is of Algerian origin. His parents were born in the village of Aguemone in the Kabylie region.

Fifa decided on Tuesday to open a disciplinary investigation into the incident and Sepp Blatter, head of soccer’s ruling body, hinted that Zidane could be stripped of the tournament’s best player award.

The French playmaker said he was ready to face any disciplinary hearing and stressed that he was confident about the outcome.

“If someone can read (Materazzi’s) lips, they will show that I’m telling the truth. The one who is really guilty must be punished,” Zidane said.

“I don’t want to attack anyone but I want to defend myself. I did something wrong and I was punished for that. I ended up alone in the changing room”, Zidane said.

“But I was the one who was provoked and I reacted. It is always the one who reacts who is punished, never the one who provokes and this is not fair,” he said.

Zidane apologised for his behaviour but he said he could not regret it.

“I know this is something that one should not do. I want to say that loud and clear because it was watched by two billion people and by millions of kids”, Zidane said.

“I want to apologise to them but I can’t regret what I did because it would mean that he (Materazzi) was right in saying what he said.

“I have taught my kids to respect people and I have taught them that they deserve to be respected in return. I couldn’t let something like that be said without any reaction.”

In an interview published on Wednesday, Blatter hinted that Zidane could lose the Golden Ball.

“Fifa’s executive committee has the right and duty to intervene when it sees behaviour that is contrary to sports ethics,” he was quoted as saying in an interview to a Rome newspaper.

Asked if Zidane risked being stripped of the award for the World Cup’s best player, Blatter said: “Before we make any decision, we have to await the outcome of the investigation.

“Being presumed innocent until proven otherwise is sacred principle.” But he added: “Seeing him behave this way really, really hurt me.”

(AGENCIES)