1. FC Köln – After riots in Nice: FC fan has to be arrested

A football fan of 1. FC Köln who was involved in the serious riots in Nice has to be arrested. The district court of Bergisch Gladbach sentenced a 36-year-old scaffolder to a term of imprisonment of one year and six months for dangerous bodily harm and particularly serious breach of the peace. This was reported on Wednesday, among others, by Cologne City Gazette and Express.de.

“It should be made clear to the scene what the rules are and where the hammer is,” the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger quoted the chief public prosecutor Ulf Willuhn, who was in charge of the case. He had asked for a sentence of one year and nine months in prison without parole.

The accused already has seven prior convictions relating to football violence. This is one reason why the court did not see the “special circumstances” under the law that would have justified a suspended sentence. The man has not detached himself from the fan scene to this day. The verdict is not yet legally binding.

There were serious arguments about FC’s Conference League game in September 2022 at OGC Nice. Numerous fans clashed, there were riots in the city and also in the stadium. The fan convicted on Wednesday has been in custody since October, when the police had searched apartments and houses in Cologne, Hürth, Pulheim and Bergisch Gladbach and executed arrest warrants against suspected perpetrators. Further trials are scheduled for the coming days.

The AFP news agency also reported on Wednesday that a French fan was also convicted. The 34-year-old, who is assigned to the ultras of Paris St. Germain, has to spend six months with an electronic ankle bracelet. During the riots, PSG fans who had traveled there had joined the people of Cologne.

The convicted Frenchman fell five meters from the upper tier during the riots in the stadium. Seriously injured, he was treated in hospital and arrested by the police a few days later.