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Footballer escapes prison after biting cop

Nicki Bille Nielsen was sentenced to community service after judges could not agree on whether he had actually bitten a female police officer during a scuffle.

Footballer escapes prison after biting cop
Nielsen at Copenhagen City Court on Thursday. Photo: Michael Bothager/Scanpix
Danish striker Nicki Bille Nielsen, who plays his club football in France for Evian, was handed a 60-day suspended sentence on Thursday for assaulting a police officer.
 
Public broadcaster DR reported that he had been handed the sentence along with "80 hours of community service by the court in Copenhagen after biting a female police officer on the arm in 2014".
 
The three judges who ruled on the case were divided on the question of whether the 27-year-old had indeed bitten the police officer after a night out in Copenhagen in April last year.
 
 
Bille Nielsen was apprehended after kicking a bicycle and a car-park ticket machine. He then resisted arrest before a police officer claimed that he had bitten her on the arm.
 
However, only two of the judges felt there was enough evidence to prove the bite. Prosecutors had wanted Bille Nielsen to serve a 60-day sentence.
 
In 2009 he was handed a 40-day sentence for a driving offence, while Danish media report that, while playing in Norway in 2013, he had to pay a fine of 10,000 Norwegian kroner ($1,276) after breaking glasses and spitting on a barman during a fight in a nightclub.
 
Bille Nielsen has not ruled out appealing against the conviction.

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RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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