Paris St-Germain full-back Serge Aurier has been stopped from entering the United Kingdom by authorities before Wednesday\u2019s Champions League match at Arsenal.<\/p>\n
The Ivorian, 23, was given a two-month suspended prison sentence in September for assaulting a police officer.<\/p>\n
PSG say UK authorities granted Aurier a visa in October but revoked it on 16 November, citing his conviction.<\/p>\n
The French champions said the timing of the ruling showed \u201ca lack of respect\u201d.<\/p>\n
But in a statement, the Home Office said: \u201cThe immigration rules clearly state that non-EU nationals who have received a custodial sentence of less than 12 months within the last five years will be refused on criminality grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aurier is appealing his conviction, leading PSG to believe he is entitled to be presumed innocent.
\n\u201cParis Saint-Germain strongly regrets that the presumption of innocence has not influenced Britain\u2019s decision,\u201d said the French champions in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn several occasions, Uefa has also transmitted its total support of Paris Saint-Germain to the British authorities regarding this case, in order to preserve the integrity of its competitions.\u201d<\/p>\n
PSG added that they \u201cdeplore\u201d the timing of the final decision.<\/p>\n
Aurier was applying for a Tier 2 Sportsperson visa, which allows an individual to stay in a country for up to three years and typically takes three weeks to process.<\/p>\n
The defender, who has played 40 times for PSG since making his loan deal from Toulouse permanent last year, is accused of elbowing a police officer outside a Paris nightclub in May.<\/p>\n
In addition to his suspended sentence, he was fined \u20ac600 (\u00a3521).<\/p>\n
His side go into Wednesday\u2019s meeting at Emirates Stadium second in Group A, level on 10 points with leaders Arsenal with both clubs assured of a place in the knockout stages.<\/p>\n
Credit:BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Paris St-Germain full-back Serge Aurier has been stopped from entering the United Kingdom by authorities before Wednesday\u2019s Champions League match at Arsenal. The Ivorian, 23, was given a two-month suspended prison sentence in September for assaulting a police officer. PSG say UK authorities granted Aurier a visa in October but revoked it on 16 November, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":270792,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1345],"tags":[564,1240,13833],"yoast_head":"\n