Swiss club chief Christian Constantin to appeal 14-month slap ban

GENEVA: Sion club president Christian Constantin said Sunday he will appeal a 14-month ban after he was caught on tape slapping a prominent critic in the face after a match last month.

Constantin's assault of former Swiss national team coach and current TV pundit Rolf Fringer on September 21 also earned him a 100,000 Swiss franc ($103,000, 87,000 euros) fine. 

"When there is a final court ruling, I will yield to that. Until then I will fight," Constantin told Swiss television station RTS.

"I don't have to take the law into my own hands, it's not good to have done it. 

"However at the time when I did it, I thought it was something he deserved. I didn't do the right thing but I did it."

The Swiss Football League (SFL) said on Thursday that Constantin was prohibited from entering all football related venues during the ban, including for Super League and national team events.

"The violent behaviour of Christian Constantin against Rolf Fringer, which (Constantin) doesn't deny, is clearly a violation of the rules of conduct," the SFL's disciplinary committee said in a statement.

Video captured at the match in Lugano, which Sion won 2-1, shows Constantin striking Fringer while he is already on the ground. 

The slap forces Fringer to fall further backward before Constantin walks away and fixes his watch. 

Fringer, who managed the national side in the 1990s, told Swiss media that Constantin had in fact struck him several times before the blow that was caught on tape. 

Constantin's son Barthelemy, who is the director of sport at Sion, is also under investigation over possible misconduct.