FORMER TURKISH CLUB CHIEF IMPRISONED FOR PUNCHING REFEREE

Faruk Koca punched Halil Umut Meler in the face last December. Emin Sansar/Anadolu via Getty Images

A Turkish court sentenced a former top-flight football club executive to more than three and a half years in prison on Monday for attacking a referee on the pitch at the end of a league game last season.

Former Ankaragucu president Faruk Koca punched referee Halil Umut Meler in the face after the final whistle of a 1-1 draw in a Super Lig game against Caykur Rizespor last year.

Meler, who fell to the ground, was also kicked in a melee that occurred when fans also invaded the field after Rizespor scored a last-minute equaliser on Dec. 11, 2023.

The incident had caused global outrage and prompted the Turkish Football Federation to suspend all league games for several weeks.

The court in Ankara convicted Koca of "intentionally wounding a public official" and sentenced him to three years and seven months in prison, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

The court also convicted Koca of threatening the referee and of violating laws aimed at preventing violence in sports but suspended the sentences.

Three other people who were also on trial for attacking the referee, were sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to five years, the agency reported.

Koca, who resigned as club president soon after the incident, is expected to appeal the verdict. He was briefly jailed last year before being released on bail.

Earlier, lawyers representing the defendants requested their acquittal, claiming that they had committed the crime under "unjust provocation," Anadolu reported.

Ankaragucu was fined 2 million Turkish Lira ($59,000) and forced to play five home games without fans.

The referee was briefly hospitalised with a small fracture near his eye.

- Associated Press 

SOCCER STAR DANI ALVES FOUND GUILTY OF RAPE, SENTENCED TO FOUR AND A HALF YEARS IN PRISON

AP Photo 

 BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Dani Alves, one of the most successful soccer players of his generation, was found guilty of raping a woman in a Barcelona nightclub and sentenced to four years and six months in prison on Thursday.

Besides disgracing the former Brazil and Barcelona right back, the conviction was applauded in Spain as a victory for a pioneering sexual liberty law that emphasises the lack of consent of the victim as key to determining sex crimes.

A three-judge panel at the Barcelona Provincial Court convicted the 40-year-old Alves of sexual assault for the incident on Dec. 31, 2022.

The court ordered Alves to pay 150,000 euros ($162,000) in compensation to the victim, banned him from approaching the victim’s home or place of work, and from communicating with her by any means for nine years.

“I still believe in the innocence of Mr. Alves,” Inés Guardiola, Alves' lawyer, said. “I need to study the ruling, but I can tell you that of course we will appeal.”

Guardiola said Alves was “calm and collected" when he heard the verdict in court.

“We are satisfied," David Sáenz, a member of the victim’s legal team, said, "because this verdict recognizes what we have always known, that the victim told the truth and that she has suffered."

The victim’s lawyer, Ester García, said on Wednesday she and her client would not be present for the verdict.

The victim said Alves raped her in the bathroom of a Barcelona nightclub on the morning of Dec. 31, 2022. The court considered it proven that the victim did not consent to sex and there was evidence, in addition to the defendant’s testimony, that she was raped.

Alves denied during the three-day trial this month that he raped the woman, testifying to the court “I am not that kind of man.”

EX-US GYMNASTICS DOCTOR NASSAR STABBED IN PRISON, IN STABLE CONDITION

Reuters 

Disgraced USA Gymnastics ex-doctor Larry Nassar, who was convicted of sexually abusing young female gymnasts, was in stable condition on Monday after being stabbed by another inmate in prison, the Associated Press reported.

Nassar, who is serving a decades-long sentence at a federal prison in Florida, was stabbed in the back and chest during an argument on Sunday, the AP reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. He was in stable condition, the AP reported.

The report did not provide more details. Representatives for the Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Penitentiary Coleman in Florida did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Nassar was sentenced in 2018 to up to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing young female gymnasts who were entrusted to his care. Those gymnasts include Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Moraney.

- Reuters 

THE TOUCHING STORY OF BERNARD HOPKINS

 

BRITTNEY GRINER SENTENCED TO 9 YEARS IN PRISON

WNBA star Brittner Griner has been found guilty of drug possession and smuggling in a Russian court outside of Moscow.