"I made a mistake,” the France captain told the club's channel.

“I told the referee to go to hell and I shouldn’t have done that," he added.

Vieira was out of action since November due to injury and fans were anticipating an impressive comeback against relegation-threatened Empoli.

But Vieira, who is known of being a card-collector, stayed on the pitch for 39 minutes before receiving his marching orders.

He was initially booked for a foul before the referee handed up a second yellow card a few moments later for the rude comment.

Inter went on to win the game 1-0 thanks to a debatable penalty-kick. Keeper Julio Cesar blocked a spot-kick for Empoli late in the game to save the three points.

Inter manager Roberto Mancini said after the game that his side wouldn't have suffered except for the numerical disadvantage.

"If we had all 11 men on the field, we would not have had problems and would have scored plenty of goals," he was quoted as saying by Calcio Italia.

"The first yellow card for the foul should not have been given, in my view."

Vieira, on the other hand, assumed full responsibility for the red card.

"At this time of great pressure on the officials I don't want to say that the referee was wrong to send me off because it was my fault," the former Arsenal man said.