Fandel's aggressor fined 250,000 euro

A Danish football fan has been ordered to pay 250,000 euro in damages for attacking German referee Herbert Fandel during Denmark's Euro 2008 qualifier against Sweden in June 2007. The 33-year-old Ronni Noervig must pay the sum to the Danish Football Association (DBU), the High Court in Copenhagen ruled. The fan had appealed against a 2009 decision by the Copenhagen City Court which had ordered him to pay the 125,000 euro, but the High Court doubled the amount. "The person in question's acts represent the biggest attack on Danish football's integrity", Jim Stjerne Hansen, secretary-general of the DBU. "His violent assault on the referee cost us an almost spotless reputation within the soccer world and 2.2 million Danish crowns”.

The match in June, 2007, at the Parken stadium in Copenhagen was abandoned in the final minutes when the fan rushed on to the field and tried to hit German referee Herbert Fandel (photo) who had just sent off Denmark's Christian Poulsen and awarded the visitors a penalty kick at the score 3-3. Fandel abandoned the match and UEFA later awarded Sweden a 3-0 victory. The defeat meant that Denmark failed to qualify for Euro 2008.
The DBU had sought damages after it was fined by UEFA and Denmark were banned from playing their next two qualifiers at Parken. The court's award was lower than the DBU's claim because the court deemed the number of spectators who would have attended a match against Lichtenstein to be lower than the DBU's estimate. In 2007, the fan was convicted of attempted assault and trespassing and given a suspended 30-day jail sentence, which was reduced to 20 days on appeal. The fan admitted he was drunk and entered the pitch illegally, but rejected the violence charge.

Source: AFP/WebNews