Former footballer Tony Vairelles is sentenced to 18 months, but he can avoid prison

Former international footballer Tony Vairelles was sentenced Thursday, July 6, to 18 months in prison by the Nancy Court of Appeal for violence at the exit of a nightclub in 2011. His sentence may however be adjusted and he will avoid jail.

The 50-year-old former Blues striker was on trial with three of his brothers for shooting at nightclub security guards in Essey-les-Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle) in October 2011. sentenced to 36 months in prison, including 18 months suspended, a sentence reduced by half compared to the first instance where he had received three years.

Security guards also sentenced

His brother Fabrice was sentenced to the same sentence, his two younger brothers Giovan and Jimmy receiving 18 months in prison, including 12 months suspended. They too will be able to arrange the firm part of their sentence. Incarcerated for five months at the start of the investigation, Tony Vairelles has always claimed his innocence as well as that of his brothers. The three security guards were sentenced, one to six months suspended and two to eight months suspended, for the violence against the two youngest Vairelles brothers.

According to the version of the Vairelles family, the two young brothers had been expelled from the nightclub, abused by three security guards. They then returned to the scene with their two eldest, Tony and Fabrice. Shots were fired by a “mysterious shooter“according to the version of the family, of which the prosecutor had noted the “clan functioning”. The guards claimed for their part to have identified Tony Vairelles as the shooter.

In 2022, Tony Vairelles returned to this affair in an autobiographical book, Balls in the center. The former striker was selected eight times for the France team between 1998 and 2000. He had played for Lens, Lyon, Bordeaux, Bastia and Gueugnon.