Mathias Lessort suspended for three matches and fined 10,000 euros
French international (20 caps since 2017) Mathias Lessort, who plays for Partizan Belgrade, was suspended for three matches and fined 10,000 euros for hitting a Red Star player at the end of a match played on Monday, the Adriatic Basketball League announced on Friday.
“For pushing back and then hitting Red Star player Filip Petrusev […] ABA League Disciplinary Judge Hrvoje Vidan has decided to sanction Partizan player Mathias Lessort with a ban from appearing in the next three matches […] and a fine of 10,000 euros”we read in a communicated broadcast on the site of the regional league which brings together Serbian, Croatian, Slovenian, Montenegrin and Bosnian clubs.
Monday evening, just after the whistle of this boiling derby of the two teams in the Serbian capital, counting for the 21st day of the ABA League, the 27-year-old pivot violently attacked Serbian international Filip Petrusev, 22 years old, before being arrested by other players.
The club also filed a criminal complaint against Mathias Lessort “due to violent behavior and beatings” to Petrusev, a rarity in Serbian sport. The French player, author of 27 points and eight rebounds in this match, was widely criticized on the networks after this incident and was even the subject of insults, sometimes racist, and threats.
Lessort still hopes to compete with the France team in the next World Cup (August 25-September 10).
