Switzerland star fined £120k after threatening to beat up man and shouting ‘I’ll finish you off, I own all of Basel’
A SWITZERLAND star has been fined £120,000 after threatening to beat up a man and shouting “I’ll finish you off, I own all of Basel”.
Breel Embolo was given a conditional fine after being found guilty of making the threats during a 5am street altercation.
The incident occurred in May 2018 outside the Piadina Bar in Basel, with his friend also found guilty of assault for breaking a man’s nose.
Embolo, who was 21 and playing for Schalke at the time, was given a conditional fine of 45 daily rates of £2,626, totalling £118,247, by a judge at Basel criminal court.
The fine has a probationary period of three years. Embolo plans to appeal the guilty verdict, report 20min.
Embolo’s friend was handed a ten-month conditional prison sentence and made to pay £2,628 in compensation.
The court heard how Embolo had been out with friends when they got into an argument with another group outside the bar.
He had pulled up outside the venue in a black G-Class Mercedes before posing for photographs with a woman standing outside the bar who supported FC Basel.
However, Embolo did not want the woman to leave, causing her co-worker, the man who had his nose broken, to intervene.
It is said that the mood then changed, with the court hearing Embolo said: “Do you actually know who I am?”
The footballer, who now plays for Monaco after a spell with Borussia Monchengladbach, his friend and his cousin then stepped put of the car and an altercation ensued.
Embolo is said to have been the main aggressor in the situation and hurled insults at the other group.
One of the victims told the court: “He [Embolo] had his followers behind him, they built themselves up in front of us, it was like a wall.”
They added that he yelled: “I’ll finish you off. I own all of Basel.”
The man who had his nose broken explained “I never posed any danger” to the group.
He went on to add: “I didn’t use bad language. I was threatened that I would be beaten up and that I would no longer be safe in Basel.”
Embolo admitted to the court that “it’s quite possible I said son of a b****”.
The 26-year-old had skipped the opening of the trial but court president Katharina Giovannone insisted he be present for Thursday’s verdict.
Prosecutor Roman Barth had called for Embolo to be fined 60 day rates, totalling almost £158,000, due to the size of his Monaco salary.
Embolo joined the French club from Borussia Monchengladbach last summer, scoring 14 goals in 42 matches.
The Cameroon-born forward also has 13 goals in 63 caps for Switzerland and has played at each of the last four major tournaments.