THE PRESIDENT OF Swiss football club Sion, Christian Constantin, is appealing his nine-month ban for hitting a television pundit before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Constantin’s assault of former Swiss coach turned TV consultant Rolf Fringer in September last year initially earned him a one-year suspension, reduced by three months on appeal.
Both Constantin, 61, and Sion lodged an appeal against the sanction, which was accompanied by a fine, reduced from €85,000 to €25,700 on appeal.
They are demanding “the overturning of the decision taken by the Swiss Football League’s appeals court” in December.
Video captured at the September 21 match in Lugano, which Sion won 2-1, shows Constantin striking Fringer while he is already on the ground.
Fringer, who managed the national side in the 1990s, told Swiss media that Constantin had in fact struck him several times before the blow that was caught on tape.
In reducing his initial ban the Swiss league’s appeals body suggested Constantin’s rush of blood to the head was not premeditated and that his violent behaviour was triggered “by an immediate and emotional reaction”.
