Three AC Ajaccio supporters were sentenced on Friday, September 8 to twelve months in prison and banned from attending sporting events for three years for the attack on Kenzo, 8, a Marseille fan suffering from cancer , and his family.
Before the kick-off of the final day of Ligue 1, on June 3, they had entered a box where the family was, delivering two punches to the face of the father, Laurent Canlay, while Kenzo was assaulted. Amandine, his mother, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the individuals had pushed the child: “He fell, he hit the side of his face on the bar of the seat and the balcony. »
Kenzo had been invited to Corsica to realize his “dream” of meeting players from the Marseille Ligue 1 club. The affair had provoked strong reactions, even to the president, Emmanuel Macron, demanding “clear and strong” sanctions.
During the trial, the three defendants, aged 20, admitted to having entered the box during the match between the Corsican football club and Olympique de Marseille in Ajaccio, to retrieve the OM jersey worn by the father , but they denied any violence.
More serious penalties during requisitions
In addition to the suspended prison sentence and the ban on attending sporting events, the court sentenced the defendant considered to have played “the main role” by entering first and carrying out blows, which he denies, to a fine of 1,000 euros. The other two were fined 500 euros.
At the hearing on August 25, the prosecutor had requested eighteen months’ imprisonment, twelve of which were suspended, a fine of 1,500 euros and a five-year stadium ban against the main defendant. Against the other two, he had requested a twelve-month suspended prison sentence, a 1,000 euro fine and a five-year stadium ban.
“A psychiatric expertise” for Kenzo
The three supporters were also ordered to pay one euro each to the AC Ajaccio club and the Professional Football League (LFP), both civil parties, as well as legal costs.
The court ordered “a psychiatric assessment” for little Kenzo, suffering from brain cancer, and his brother, and sentenced the three supporters to pay 1,500 euros in provisional compensation, dismissing the parents’ requests for compensation at a civil hearing on March 6, 2024.
“The court, rightly, condemned these young people for all the harm suffered by our clients, who are above all satisfied that the court understood that violence was carried out as much on the children as on themselves,” said declared to AFP Mr. Frédéric Pourrière, lawyer for the family of little Kenzo. “What the psychologist and psychiatrist experts say is that there was a big impact on the lives of these children, who today are still very affected by June 3,” he added.