Nalbandian being accused of assault, is this for real?

indiana · Tennis legend

Nalbandian being accused of assault, is this for real?

indiana · Tennis legend

A load of guys been kicking each other in Poland and Ukraine over the last week or so, hope it's been noted wink

I agree that it was a really bad action by Nalbandian and his intemperate actions injured an official ( which I acknowledsge is a bit different from my football analogy ) But I just totally disagree with involving the police for actions within the sporting arena.

Trouble is it's difficult to say it's not assault once the complaint has been made. But just don't go there ! I bet the police in private think that too.

-- Edited by indiana on Tuesday 19th of June 2012 04:01:08 PM

Helen40 · Grand Slam Champion

I saw the article on the BBC website:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/18479244

Does someone think that he actually did this on purpose, or are they just rying to make a fast buck from him and the media circus?

Be interested if anyone knows whether it's the official accusing him or someone else.

Count Zero · Tennis legend

does intent really matter? isn't it about foreseeable consequences of actions, and clearly this was a foreseeable chain of events. the more i see the replay the worse it gets, the line judge was right there, directly in front of him.

whether anything will come of the charge is another matter of course. i don't think it has to actually be the official making the compliant (and it probably isn't I'd wager),

wolf · Tennis legend

Of course it's assualt...

Count Zero · Tennis legend

back in 1998 Di Canio was banned for 11 matches and given a £10k fine for pushing a ref over. at the time the refs all complained the ban was too short (and actually if you watch the clip he barely even pushed him!). Whats £10k in todays money? either way it would seem Nalby may in fact get of lightly if the same incident had occurred in another sport (i doubt the assault charge will come to anything to be honest).

indiana · Tennis legend

I don't diasagree thjat Nalby seems to have got off lightly, and that to me the ATP shoul,d maybe be looking at their maximum penalties. He deserved to be hammered.

But keep it within sport !!

philwrig · Hall of fame

It was an accident, a preventable one but an accident. The guy is back at work at Roehampton this week anyways.

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

Remind me not to get too near SMC if he is in a temper! Though then I could sue the pants off him. . .

Where did you get that definition of reckless, SMC? My Cassells English Dictionary defines it as "careless, heedless, rash".

If Nalby didn't foresee that lashing out with his foot so near another person was likely to cause injury, he must be a complete idiot - he was definitely reckless/careless/heedless/rash. And if he didn't think the box would break, then he was careless/heedless/rash in that then he might well have fractured his foot!

Edit - I posted the above before your next post - yes, I do agree the police should not have been involved. They have far more important things to look after.

-- Edited by Madeline on Tuesday 19th of June 2012 11:10:53 PM

wolf · Tennis legend

The law doesn't stop when you step onto a sports field, and nor should it.

There's a chasm of difference between causing an injury to an opponent in a contact sport during play and attacking a completely innocent official in a non contact sport when the ball is not even in play.

It's assault.

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

I started reading the thread, but all I would have posted is pretty much exactly what Wolf has said. Players injuring each other is one thing, particularly in a contact sport - they play in the knowledge that they may get injured. But officials should not be in danger of injury just because a player cannot control his bad temper! No doubt Nalby did not intend to injure the man, but really he must be the biggest fool on earth if he did not realise that kicking, really very hard, something which is only inches from another person, is very probably going to cause injury.

SMC1809 · All-time great

Personally I expected more from the advertising board and I suspect Nalby did too. He probably didn't expect it to fall apart like an MFI kitchen.

The difference between assualt and an accident is intent, so was Nalby thinking "I'm going to kick that board so hard that it hits the linesman" or was it "grrrrrrrrrrrrr", kick, "oops"?

Similar to a car accident. You can be at fault if you crash and injure someone but it doesn't make it assault.

RBBOT · Futures qualifying

There is purely accidental, and then there is negligent. This behaviour was not malicious, but there is certainly a case that he was being negligent of the official's safety, and there are plenty of situations where negligent behaviour is a criminal offense. Whether 'assault' is the correct offense or not, I don't know.

Ratty · County player

Some confusion here over whether "mens rea" (intention) is necessary for the offence of Assault. It is not. The offence is "where the defendant intentionally or recklessly causes the victim to apprehend immediate unlawful personal violence". That seems to sum up Nalby's behaviour quite nicely.

SMC1809 · All-time great

In keeping with your legal definition, this would also need to be considered -

Recklessly - 'the actor foresees that particular consequences may occur and proceeds with the given conduct, not caring whether those consequences actually occur or not.'

It would appear that Nalby's actions were neither intentional nor reckless, as I don't believe Nalby is capable of that many thoughts in one day, let alone in a split-second.