The Belgian football player, Tuur Dierckx, has been sentenced to a month in prison for organising a lockdown party.
Mr Dierckx will also have to pay a €800 (£688) fine. The Westerlo player organised a party with 14 guests during lockdown. These guests included four other professional footballers who were fined between €400 (£344) and €600 (£516), according to the Belgian TV channel, RTBF.
Mr Dierckx violated the current measures put in place to fight coronavirus in Belgium. These state that, outside of their household, people may only have one close personal contact who they can invite inside.
Police were called to the footballer’s flat in Antwerp in the early hours of the morning on 13 December, following a report of noise disturbance.
Even when police arrived at the scene, there was apparently no sense or remorse or guilt amongst the guests. According to the prosecutor, people continued to hug, kiss and shake hands as if there was no pandemic.
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Mr Dierckx’s lawyer Carl De Munck said: “This is a severe sentence, but it is in line with verdicts in similar cases.”
Mr De Munck had previously argued that footballers are in bubbles with the trainers and staff. He said that as a result, they do not always realise just how serious the pandemic is and how there is a need to limit contact with others.
Mr Dierckx worked on a Covid-19 ward in Geel, just east of Antwerp for one day, following the incident. He told the court that this had allowed him to realise the severity of this situation. During this experience, it apparently also dawned on him that he had made a big mistake.
It is thought that Mr Dierckx will not appeal the verdict.
