Ilias Chair will start for QPR against Rotherham in the Championship – despite being handed a two-year prison sentence, one of which is suspended.
Chair was sentenced to a year in prison in Belgium after fracturing a truck driver’s skull.
The midfielder, who is believed to be married with a young son, was given a 12-month suspended sentence on Friday morning and was also ordered to pay the victim £13,400.
He has been one of Rangers’ star players since his debut in 2017 and flourished after a loan spell at Stevenage in the 2018/19 season.
The 26-year-old has made 222 appearances for QPR in his career, including 31 this season, and has scored five goals and four assists in the Championship as his team battled relegation.
And for now, he’ll stay, despite sustaining the injury during a kayaking trip four years ago.
Ilias Chair will start for QPR against Rotherham – despite being jailed for a year in Belgium after fracturing a bus driver’s skull
The 26-year-old was also given a 12-month suspended sentence and ordered to pay £13,400 to the victim.
It is believed that Chair is married and has a young son, who regularly shares posts from his family on social media
Chair’s brother was also involved in the incident and was given a six-month suspended sentence and a £700 fine
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QPR released a club statement following the news, saying they will make no further comment as ‘the legal process has not yet been completed’.
The trial in Antwerp, his hometown, heard that Chair, along with his brother Jabeur and a group of friends, had an argument with the driver in Bazeilles, France, in the summer of 2020.
Jabeur was given a six-month suspended sentence and a £700 fine.
All involved were waiting for a bus back to Belgium after the trip, while the Antwerp public prosecutor said during a hearing in January:The consequences were dramatic for Niels T (the driver). He suffered a serious skull fracture measuring two centimeters and was taken to Reims hospital in a critical condition.
‘Afterwards he had to recover for a long time in a Belgian hospital and was unable to work as a truck driver for a long time.
‘The blow almost killed him and he still feels the consequences.’
Chair has been a regular for QPR this season, scoring the winner in their last match on February 17
The chairman denied being the person who used the stone and asked for a new trial with a different lawyer
The court heard last month that while queuing to board the bus, another woman wearing a green bikini lashed out and “hit, scratched and bit” others as she demanded to be the first to board the bus.
“This led to a conversation with other people waiting, including the later victims Niels T, his sister Eline T and Dries D,” said the public prosecutor. ‘The woman in the green bikini was behaving very aggressively and things escalated quickly. the hand. The woman lashed out at the victims and their children.’
A major fight reportedly broke out, during which a man, probably Chair, grabbed a stone and hit Niels T, who lost consciousness.
The chairman denied that he was the man who used the stone and asked for a new trial with a different lawyer, which was said to have been rejected.
Niels T’s lawyer said: ‘My client almost lost his life, and surgeons were needed to save him.
‘He has not been able to work for a long time and still suffers daily from adverse reactions when he has been hit with a stone.’
He is also an international for Morocco and played at the 2022 World Cup when his side finished fourth in the tournament
Chair’s QPR currently sit 22nd in the Championship table, one point below safety with 33 games played.
The midfielder last played for the side on February 17, scoring the winner against Bristol City.
He is also a Morocco international and played at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar when his side finished fourth.