• Bastia striker also fined €20,000 for August incident • Sentence expected to be commuted to community service

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The Bastia striker Brandão has been sentenced to one month in prison and handed a €20,000 fine for head-butting the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Thiago Motta in August.

A French prosecutor had requested that the Brazilian striker be given an eight-month suspended sentence but instead the court in Paris opted for a custodial sentence.

However, according to reports in the French newspaper Le Parisien, Brandão’s lawyer will not be appealing against the decision on the understanding that his sentence will be commuted to community service.

“It is extremely harsh. We used to say that footballers are not above the law but they should not be below the law either,” Olivier Martin told BFMTV.

Tunnel cameras at the Parc des Princes captured the 34-year-old’s attack on the Italy international Motta, which took place moments after the end of a 2-0 victory for PSG. Motta was left with a broken nose after the incident.

In court, Brandão admitted the charge of assualt but denied he had shown any premeditated aggression. He has already been suspended for six months by the French football authorities.