A court in England has sentenced a fan to a 10-year stadium ban for head-butting Sheffield United captain Billy Sharp.
The fan appeared in a video clip butting a mustache after the end of the meeting between Nottingham Forest and Sheffield on Tuesday, in the English Premier League qualifiers for the English Premier League football.
Absolutely disgusting #nffc u scabs pic.twitter.com/t4765jtbue
— helscholesy (@helscholesy) May 17, 2022
Nottingham fans entered the stadium to celebrate the team's 3-2 penalty shootout victory, after the two teams tied 3-3 back and forth in the two semi-final matches.
The 30-year-old fan, Robert Briggs, pleaded guilty when standing in front of the Nottingham court, and was sentenced to 6 months in prison and a 10-year ban from entering the stadiums, and a fine of 500 pounds (about 625 dollars) was imposed on him in compensation for the injured player.
"It's assault".
We've seen one of our players attacked.
He's shuck up, bleeding, angry.
It'll be dealt with.”
Hecky on Billy Sharp.
pic.twitter.com/bgbLoFjr3s
— Sheffield United (@SheffieldUnited) May 17, 2022
The 36-year-old Sharp needed 4 stitches to sew the wound he sustained on the face after the fan's headbutt, and the defense team tried to reduce the seriousness of the shot and claimed that the fan was drunk, but the judge insisted on imposing the penalty and said he wanted it to be a "deterrent".
For its part, Nottingham Forest club announced that this fan will be removed and banned from entering the team's stadium for life.
🗞 Club Statement
🌳🔴 #NFFC
— Nottingham Forest FC (@NFFC) May 17, 2022