Berlin – Football world champion Lucas Hernández does not have to go to jail. Shortly before the end of the deadline, FC Bayern Munich’s record purchases and the German series champions were allowed to breathe a sigh of relief after the Spanish judiciary upheld an appeal by the 25-year-old Frenchman. The time limit for starting the prison sentence would have expired on Thursday at midnight, then Hernández would have had to go to a Spanish prison of his choice for six months.
The good news for the club and players was made public on Wednesday. If the judicial decision had been delayed, the ongoing appeal would have had no suspensive effect – Hernández would have had to be arrested on Thursday.
According to the court on Wednesday, the prison sentence was suspended for four years. The footballer must not be guilty of anything for that long. Otherwise he will have to serve his prison sentence. To do this, Hernández now has to pay a fine of 240 daily rates of 400 euros each, for a total of 96,000 euros.
Judging by the latest statements from Munich, it was apparently assumed that the defender, who once cost around 80 million euros, does not have to go to jail. Coach Julian Nagelsmann had predicted that Hernández would play well at Union Berlin on Saturday. You have “not the feeling that it burdens him,” said Nagelsmann about the judicial problems of the French, whom he had recently described as a “thoroughbred professional”.
The background to the case is a tangible dispute between the 2018 world champion and his then girlfriend and current wife, which occurred four and a half years ago – in February 2017 – when Hernández was still playing for Atlético Madrid. Both were sentenced to community service and a six-month ban on contact for domestic violence.
Since they were quickly reconciled at the time, Hernández and his partner went away together for the six months. The problem: The professional violated the ban on approach. Therefore, he was sentenced to prison. His current wife got off lightly because the ban on contact had not yet been served to her at the time of their trip to Las Vegas in the US state of Nevada – but Hernández did.
In Spain, the fight against domestic violence is taken very seriously. The courts judge severely and the media report extensively, even when it comes to unknown people. A contact ban remains in place in Spain even if there has been a reconciliation so that no one can be compelled to undertake such a reconciliation. The new ruling came as a surprise in Spain. A majority of experts had expected that the appeal would be rejected. Partly because Hernández is not a so-called first-time offender.
According to the judiciary, there have been two final convictions against him for domestic violence. The one from 2017 by the Madrid criminal court 35, which is why the ban on contact had been issued. And another from 2018 by the criminal court number five in Móstoles near Madrid. In Spain, prison sentences of less than two years are often suspended on probation by judges, but only if the convicted person is completely clean.