Football After a Fight
Hertha’s goalkeeper gets away with a deal in court
As of: 12:28 p.m. | Reading time: 2 minutes
Hertha’s Marius Gersbeck had to appear before an Austrian court
Those: dpa/Soeren Stache
Marius Gersbeck does not have to go to prison for his violent act at Hertha BSC’s summer training camp. Instead, the Berlin goalkeeper makes a deal with the court. Reconciliation with the victim takes place in the Salzburg hearing room.
A decision has been made in the trial of Hertha BSC goalkeeper Marius Gersbeck, who was accused of serious bodily harm. The 28-year-old agreed on Thursday with the Salzburg regional court on a diversion, i.e. a deal with the court. Gersbeck was neither convicted nor acquitted by the judge. Instead, the professional footballer pays 40,000 euros to the Austrian state treasury. The Berlin second division goalkeeper is now not considered to have a criminal record. According to Austrian law, if convicted, Gersbeck would have faced up to five years in prison in the worst case scenario.
“My client takes full responsibility, regrets the incident and is ready for a handshake,” Gersbeck’s lawyer said in court. The defendant also spoke out himself in Salzburg and showed remorse. “I deeply regret the incident. And I would like to personally apologize to the victim,” said Gersbeck. “I am truly sorry. And I hope that they don’t have any consequential damage.” His victim Alois S. accepted the handshake.
Gersbeck punched and kicked the 22-year-old in Zell am See on the night of July 16th. The victim suffered facial fractures and an eyelid hematoma. Gersbeck subsequently did not publicly comment on the allegations. According to the investigating authorities, he did not provide any information in an initial interrogation by the police shortly after the events. In August it was reported that Gersbeck had settled a possible civil lawsuit by reaching an agreement with the alleged victim.
also read
At Hertha BSC, even before the court hearing, there had been different opinions in the committees about how to deal with Gersbeck, who is popular with fans. According to reports, President Kay Bernstein was looking for ways to continue to employ the goalkeeper, who himself was in the fan curve at the Olympic Stadium when he was a teenager. After Gersbeck’s suspension and Oliver Christensen’s transfer to Fiorentina, Tjark Ernst, just 20 years old, is currently Berlin’s number one.
Here you will find content from third parties
In order to display embedded content, your revocable consent to the transmission and processing of personal data is necessary, as the providers of the embedded content require this consent as third party providers [In diesem Zusammenhang können auch Nutzungsprofile (u.a. auf Basis von Cookie-IDs) gebildet und angereichert werden, auch außerhalb des EWR]. By setting the switch to “on”, you agree to this (revocable at any time). This also includes your consent to the transfer of certain personal data to third countries, including the USA, in accordance with Art. 49 (1) (a) GDPR. You can find more information about this. You can revoke your consent at any time using the switch and privacy at the bottom of the page.
