PSG travelled to London on Tuesday to take on Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal in the Champions League. They did so without Serge Aurier after the defender was refused permission to travel to the UK.
Losing Aurier for the Arsenal match is a big blow for PSG, and they had expected everything would be just fine.
Aurier was recently convicted in France of violence towards police officers, so his wrongdoing isn’t exactly a parking offence or similar.
French newspaper Le Parisien explained in September:
‘Serge Aurier, PSG’s right-back, has been sentenced on Monday to two months of prison for violence towards police officers. The Ivory Coast footballer has, as well, be sentenced to pay 300 euros for physical damage, 300 euros for mental damage and 1500 euros in legal fees. The sentence will be able to be converted into a day-fine. Serge Aurier’s defence have already announced they will appeal the verdict.’
‘Due to a sudden about-face by the British authorities, Serge Aurier has not been allowed to travel with Unai Emery’s squad for the clash away to Arsenal. Paris Saint-Germain is stunned by this incomprehensible situation that attacks the very integrity of the UEFA Champions League.
After an initial application on 18th October, complete with all the necessary documents, the British authorities had originally granted Paris Saint-Germain’s Côte d’Ivoire international an entry visa to the UK on 21 October. However, on 16 November, his visa was finally revoked by the British Ministry of the Interior, who justified their about-face by citing Aurier’s conviction on 30th September, 2016.
Paris Saint-Germain had, in all transparency, informed the British authorities of this conviction, as well as Aurier’s appeal against this decision (and the legal suspension of the ruling) from the outset.
The club has argued several times that since the player has launched a legal appeal against the criminal ruling, he is therefore entitled to the presumption of innocence, as any other person exercising their right to appeal.
Paris Saint-Germain strongly regrets that the presumption of innocence has not influenced Britain’s decision. On 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.
The club also deplores that the final decision of the British authorities was only communicated at 14:00 CET on Tuesday, despite the club working for the last six days to find a solution to enable our player to travel with his teammates to London. Paris Saint-Germain considers this extremely tardy response as a flagrant lack of respect for the club, given that its player could have been training with the team just hours later at Emirates Stadium.
In the face of this decision, albeit difficult to understand in respect to European law, Paris Saint-Germain, who had planned to travel to London with its strongest possible squad, invites its fans to be more united than ever, in support of their club.’
Given the nature of the crime, which PSG don’t deny Aurier has been convicted for, and is appealing against, the tone and weight of their response would seem a little over the top.
