The goalkeeper of Algeria’s first division club MC Alger, Faouzi Chaouchi, was sentenced Tuesday to a suspended six-month prison term for an attack on a policeman, media reported.
Chaouchi, 32, a former keeper of the national team, was charged with “aggression” against a policeman who was searching players at a match in Algiers on February 7.
Private television station Echorouk reported that the court in the Bir Mourad Rais district of Algiers also ordered the player to pay a fine of 50,000 dinars ($450).
Chaouchi denied having attacked the policeman, saying he had only “shoved” him after refusing to be subjected to a body search on entering the stadium.
The player turned into a national hero for his saves during a play-off victory against Egypt that sent Algeria to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
But he has since faced a string of sanctions imposed by the Algerian football federation for indiscipline.
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