For most football fans who saw him on the pitch in the 1990s and 2000s, he will forever remain this colorful striker with the famous mullet cut, with his hair short on the sides and long at the level. of the neck. Tony Vairelles, 49, was sentenced Monday, May 16 to five years in prison, three of which are closed by the Nancy Criminal Court for violence with a weapon committed ten years earlier when leaving a nightclub.
The three brothers of the native of Nancy, Fabrice (55 years old), Jimmy (41 years old) and Giovan (30 years old) were also sentenced to prison terms. The four men were judged for having opened fire and injured three nightclub security guards in Essey-lès-Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle) in 2011. “We are going to appeal, I do not despair of making justice listen to reason, namely that we do not condemn someone for the benefit of the doubt”, declared to one of their lawyers, Me Frédéric Berna.
A 1.86m striker, Tony Vairelles began his professional career with AS Nancy-Lorraine during the 1991-1992 season. He takes part in 14 division 1 matches but the club descends to the lower level. He returned to the elite with RC Lens in 1995 and became French champion with the Sang et Or in 1998. at the end of a season with 32 matches and nine goals. “Tonygoal” then opens the doors of the France team.
Tony Vairelles with the Blues against Andorra on October 14, 1998
Credit: Gabriel BOUYS / AFP
He will wear the blue jersey, freshly haloed with the star of the world champion, eight times between August 19, 1998 and April 26, 2000 (a friendly goal against Croatia on November 13, 1999). In the meantime, he signed for Lyon but only stayed there for 18 months before being loaned to Bordeaux. Tony Vairelles then chained the short experiences, in Bastia, Lyon and Lens again, Rennes, again Bastia, Lierse in Belgium, Tours in Ligue 2, CA Bastia in National, Dudelange in the Netherlands then Gueugnon from 2009 to 2011.
He finally hung up his crampons at the age of 40 and became one of the ambassadors of footgolf – a mixture of football and golf on a golf course – in France. There will also be, then, this news item for which he has just been found guilty. The tall blond still wears a small brush, but no longer the mullet cut.
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