OL-OM incidents: Six months suspended prison sentence for the author of the bottle throwing on Payet

“I don’t know what went through my head“. The author of the bottle throwing on the head of Dimitri Payet, which caused the final stop of the OL-OM match Sunday evening in Lyon, was sentenced Tuesday to six months in prison suspended. The court ordered the match. Sentenced to a three-year probation period and a five-year stadium ban. Prosecuted for “willful violence with a weapon by destination”, he will have to compensate the civil parties up to a symbolic euro, claimed by Dimitri Payet , the Olympique de Marseille and the Professional Football League (LFP).

OL, also a civil party, obtained a deadline to assess their damage linked to the stoppage of the match. The disciplinary committee of the LFP has already sanctioned the Lyon club with a closed-door match as a precaution. “I don’t know what went through my head, the euphoria, I don’t know“Said the defendant Wilfried Serriere, 32, wearing a white Bayern Munich jersey under a blue anorak, without being able to explain his gesture.

Fan of OL for fifteen years, without belonging to a supporters’ club, he apologized to the Marseille player, saying he had not aimed at him in the head. He says he picked up the bottle on the ground, before having had the sudden idea of ​​throwing it, when the OM captain was about to take a corner. In the images broadcast to the audience, we see him lowering his hood before throwing the full bottle of 50 centilitres.

“Significant” psychological repercussions for Payet

“The football world has suffered an upsurge in incidents and acts of violence“, lamented the prosecutor Béatrice Moure, who had required six months of imprisonment against the defendant.”This is not the trial of supporters or football as such … Transforming this stadium into a fortress, with grids, nets, is it the value of sport that we must transmit to our children? “, added the magistrate, hammering: “zero risk does not exist but zero tolerance exists“.

“Violence is an integral part of this sport“, retorted in defense David Metaxas, for whom the defendant acted by”an absolutely stupid reflex act“. The lawyer challenged the constitution of civil party of the LFP and the OL, estimating that his client, delivery man for snack with an income of 1,000 euros monthly, should not”endure the violence of football alone“.”It is the management of this crisis that also caused the media coverage of this affair. My problem is that the media coverage falls on him“, said Me Metaxas.

“It’s not stupidity, it’s madness, it’s serious“, pleaded Axel Daurat for OM and Dimitri Payet. The Marseille lawyer recalled that the player had been targeted several times in recent months, with psychological repercussions”important“.”The fear will be there every time he puts a ball for a corner“, argued Me Daurat.

“If it continues like this, there will end up being a player in serious condition“, launched Benjamin Peyrelevade, lawyer of the LFP. That of the OL mentioned”the many prejudices“suffered as a result of the stoppage of the meeting.