Algerian international Farid El Melali has landed in a Sexual Exhibition Scandal amid the coronavirus pandemic which has been ravaging the world since December.
Farid El Melali is 23-year-old attacking midfielder who plays for French Ligue 1 club Angers SCO and the Algeria national team.
He was reportedly caught looking through the window of a woman’s flat in the French city of Angers on Monday night.
The eyewitnesses who saw him alleged that the Algerian international was seen masturbating while looking at the woman who was not aware that someone was looking at her through the window.
The police in France were informed about the incident and the footballer was arrested later that night.
While the police and the management of Angers football club were confirming the report, it was revealed that El Melali has been charged with sexual exhibition.
According to ESPN, the footballer has committed a similar offence and was arrested by the police but wasn’t charged then.
If found guilty, the 23-year-old football star could spend a couple of months in prison or forced to pay an undisclosed amount of fine.
Farid El Melali was not aggressive
However, his lawyer Sandra Chirac Kollarik believes that the footballer has not done anything wrong since he didn’t target anyone and wasn’t aggressive against anyone.
El Melali “was not targeting anyone and was not aggressive towards anyone”, she told a French newspaper Le Courrier de l’Ouest that first reported the incident.
He has however been released from the police custody to face trial.
As at the time of publishing this report, Angers have not made public what the club would do to the footballer if the court finds him guilty of the offence.
Since El Melali broke into the Angers’ team in 2018, he has been one of the most promising footballers at the club. Before the season was interrupted due to the coronavirus pandemic, the football star has scored three times in four starts after coming back from multiple injuries.
His performance on the field of play impressed the club to the extent his previous four years contract was extended in May 2020. Barring any negative outcome of his Sexual Exhibition court case, the footballer‘s future is tied to the club until 2023.
