Switzerland forward Breel Embolo fined after Basel street altercation
Switzerland forward Breel Embolo given conditional £120,000 fine after threatening to beat up a man and yelling ‘I’ll finish you off, I own all of Basel’ during 5am street altercation
- Monaco player Embolo was found guilty of making threats during the argument
- The altercation occurred in May 2018 outside a bar in the Swiss city of Basel
- Embolo’s friend was found guilty of assault after a man’s nose was broken
Swiss international Breel Embolo has been fined for making threats during a street altercation in Basel five years ago.
The Monaco forward, then 21 and playing for German club Schalke, told one man he would ‘finish him’ and another man ‘he’d have him beaten’ during the argument, a court heard.
A judge at Basel criminal court gave Embolo a conditional fine of 45 daily rates of 3,000 Swiss francs [£2,626] – a total of CHF 135,000 [£118,247] – with a probationary period of three years for the incident back in May 2018.
Embolo plans to appeal the guilty verdict.
Embolo was out with friends in the Swiss city and got into an argument with another group at 5am.
Switzerland and Monaco footballer Breel Embolo has been found guilty of making threats and fined by a court in Basel over a street altercation back in 2018
Embolo allegedly said ‘I’ll finish you off, I own all of Basel’ during the 5am argument back in May 2018
One member of the group suffered a broken nose after being hit by Embolo’s friend, who was given a 10 month conditional prison sentence and made to pay CHF 3,000 in compensation, 20min reported.
The court heard how Embolo and his friends pulled up outside the Piadina Bar in a black G-Class Mercedes at around 5am on May 27, 2018.
A woman standing in a group outside the bar was a fan of FC Basel, one of Embolo’s former clubs, and posed for photographs with him.
Embolo apparently didn’t want the woman to leave, forcing her colleague, the man whose nose was later broken, to intervene.
That changed the mood and the court heard that Embolo said: ‘Do you actually know who I am?’
The footballer, his best friend and cousin stepped out of the car and an altercation ensued.
The prosecution said Embolo was the main aggressor, apparently hurling the insults.
One of the victims told the court: ‘He [Embolo] had his followers behind him, they built themselves up in front is us, it was like wall.’
He added that Embolo said: ‘I’ll finish you off. I own all of Basel.’
The man whose nose was broken said ‘I never posed any danger’ to Embolo and his group.
Embolo is pictured playing for Switzerland against Brazil at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar
He added: ‘I didn’t use bad language. I was threatened that I would be beaten up and that I would no longer be safe in Basel.’
Under questioning, Embolo admitted: ‘It’s quite possible that I said son of a b****.
The footballer had skipped the opening of the trial but court president Katharina Giovannone insisted he be present for the verdict on Thursday.
Prosecutor Roman Barth had called for Embolo to be fined 60 daily rates of CHF 3,000 – a system pegged to a defendant’s income – because of his high salary with Monaco.
Embolo joined Monaco from German club Borussia Monchengladbach last year and scored 14 goals in his first season.
The Cameroon-born forward has scored 13 goals for the Swiss national side in 63 matches.
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