BASTIA’S BRAZILIAN STRIKER Brandao was on Thursday jailed for a month and fined 20,000 euros for headbutting Paris Saint-Germain’s Thiago Motta.
The three judges went beyond the prosecutor’s request for an eight-month suspended term and 15,000 euros fine.
However, Yves Madre, the President of the Paris court, implied the 34-year-old could benefit from a reduced sentence, and may eventually avoid prison.
Madre also regretted Brandao’s failure to appear in court, which prevented the judges from considering alternative sentences such as community service.
Brandao is currently in hospital receiving treatment after undergoing a thigh operation last week.
Madre explained that the judges had accepted the premeditated nature of the incident, and had also taken “into account the context and in particular the problems of violence in stadiums”.
In a statement, the president of his club Bastia, Pierre-Marie Geronimi said that Brandao deserved to be punished but called the sentence “severe and extremely over the top”.
He added: “It was a case with great media interest and that played its part. In terms of jurisprudence it is a first in France.”
In addition, he said that no decision would yet be taken on the future of Brandao, whose contract with the Corsican club runs out at the end of the season.
“We are not here to drown someone who already has their head under the water. We will not take any decision for the moment,” he said.
CCTV security cameras at the Parc des Princes on August 16 showed Brandao headbutting Brazilian-born Italian midfielder Motta and then running away to the Bastia changing rooms leaving the Paris player with a broken nose.
Brandao claimed he had been insulted by Motta throughout the match, relating to a rape charge Brandao was cleared of in 2012.
He however denied that it was premeditated, claiming he had wanted to “have it out with Motta and then blew a fuse” in the heat of the moment.
Brandao’s lawyer Olivier Martin said he was “a bit stunned” after the verdict, adding that the decision was “in line with what is going on since the beginning of this case: we’re in excess.”
Martin said that his client had “lost it” as a result of Motta’s alleged insults.
“The reality is that the blow was because Thiago Motta had taken a psychological edge (on Brandao),” insisted Martin.
For Martin the Bastia player had “already paid dearly on the media and disciplinary front.”
French football authorities had already hit Brandao with a six-month playing ban, ruling him out until February.
The prosecutor had earlier described the player’s actions as calculated, pointing out that a threat of violence had been made earlier in the evening.
“On the pitch he (Brandao) said he’d be waiting for me afterwards, but I never thought he’d actually do it,” Motta told the police.
Neither Motta nor PSG however filed a complaint against Brandao.
