Tottenham star Ivan Perisic fined for not turning up to court case

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Tottenham winger Ivan Perisic has been slapped with a fine after failing to appear in an Italian court on Wednesday, according to reports. The 33-year-old allegedly skipped the hearing, which he was supposed to attend as a witness, to be with Tottenham as they secured a thrilling win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League group stages.

Perisic was left as an unused substitute for the match, in which Son Heung-min scored two goals either side of Harry Kane’s penalty to register a much-needed victory over Frankfurt despite the threat of a late comeback by the visitors. The Croatia international has since been hit with a fine of £435 over his failure to attend court on the same day, according to Gazzetta dello Sport.

It is said that the Court of Milan opted to issue Perisic with a financial penalty for ‘not appearing in the courtroom as a witness’ in a defamation case involving his former Inter Milan team-mate Mauro Icardi. The Tottenham winger is said to be ‘involved in the trial’ and was expected to show up on Wednesday but was unable to do so ‘due to the Champions League match’ between Spurs and Frankfurt.

Perisic has also been ordered by the judge to be ‘brought to testify by the police’ when the next hearing takes place in January. Icardi, meanwhile, was also absent from Wednesday’s session after failing to provide the court with his new address since joining Galatasaray on loan from Paris Saint-Germain over the summer.

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It remains to be seen whether Perisic will be able to attend the new hearing, which is expected to fall on January 25. Tottenham are currently scheduled to face Fulham away on January 21 before taking on Manchester City at home on February 4, although they are likely to be involved in the fourth round of the FA Cup on January 28.

Perisic has only started eight matches in all competitions for Tottenham since the beginning of the campaign after joining on a free transfer from Inter Milan in pre-season. He was nursing a calf injury upon his arrival in north London, though, which meant that he did not get up to speed until a few weeks after the return of Premier League football.

Conte recently admitted that Perisic is yet to deliver at Tottenham to the level that he is more than capable of performing, but went on to insist that he will continue to settle in as the season grows older and his fitness continues to improve.

“Perisic arrived with a serious calf problem, he was recovering,” the Tottenham boss told Sky Italy. “He’s not what I know yet but he’s already given us a hand in terms of assists and personality. I’m sure he’ll give us even more.”

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