2 Russian soccer players paroled in brawl case
MOSCOW (AP) — Two Russian national team soccer players have been paroled after serving part of their prison sentences for a series of brawls.
Zenit St. Petersburg forward Alexander Kokorin and FC Krasnodar midfielder Pavel Mamayev were arrested last October after being accused of attacking a man in a Moscow hotel parking lot, a senior trade ministry official and a car designer in a cafe.
Kokorin was sentenced to 18 months in prison in May, while Mamayev was sentenced to 17 months, though both sentences were already reduced due to time spent in pre-trial detention.
A district court in the western Belgorod region has ruled that “for the purpose of their correction, they do not need to serve the sentence in full.”
They will be released on Sept. 17 if there is no appeal from prosecutors. The court says prosecutors supported the parole.
Kokorin has played 48 times for Russia, while Mamayev made 15 international appearances from 2010-16.
