PSG star Aurier to be tried over police 'assault'

Paris (AFP) – Paris Saint-Germain star Serge Aurier will be tried in September for an alleged assault on a police officer, a judicial source told AFP on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old Ivory Coast international defender denies the charge and has himself filed a complaint against the police for violence, the source said.

Aurier is alleged to have “insulted and hit a police officer”, a police source told AFP.

The incident occurred as Aurier was challenged by police because his Porsche Cayenne was causing traffic problems after he left a nightclub.

Aurier was “aggressive” and “quite contemptuous” when police tried to breathalyse him. It was then he allegedly “elbowed” the policeman in the throat, the source said.

Reigning French champions PSG briefly suspended Aurier in February after he appeared in a video on social media insulting coach Laurent Blanc.

Aurier later admitted he had made a “stupid mistake” and apologised.

With an estimated transfer value of between 20-25 million euros, Aurier was been a key element of PSG’s drive towards a fourth consecutive French league title and the Champions League quarter-finals in the just-completed season.

He is under under contract with the club until June 2019.