The Spanish soccer fan who tried to grab the World Cup trophy ten minutes before kick-off in the final between Spain and The Netherlands has been fined R2 000.
Jaume Marquet Cot (34) appeared in a World Cup Court in Johannesburg on Monday.
Cot greeted friends when he entered the court and appeared confused when the interpreter asked him to remove his beanie.
Police said Cot breached security on the north side of the pitch on Sunday and tried to grab the World Cup trophy on display near the players’ entrance tunnel.
An official guarding the trophy floored him with a punch and he was carried into the tunnel before being arrested.
At the time, Cot was wearing a T-shirt bearing the words “Jimmy jump against racism”.
Police said he had a previous pitch invasion record for an incident in London four years ago.
Britain’s Telegraph newspaper’s website reported that Cot had a history of hijacking major events, including running onto the stage during Spain’s performance at the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo, Norway.
“He feels free when he jumps. He had done so at many events, and I like it,” one of his supporters, Alex Sola, said outside the court on Monday.
Sola said Cot arrived in South Africa on Sunday morning, especially for the final.
“He wanted to do the jump for the last time in South Africa,” said Sola, adding that Cot now intended retiring.
He said Cot had worn a red traditional hat called a barritina, symbolising freedom, when he invaded the pitch.
He had been about to put a barritina on the trophy, to symbolise the freedom of the world, when he was arrested, said Sola, who said he had accompanied Cot on many of his “jumps”.
He and Cot would visit Botswna and other African countries before returning to Spain, he said. – Sapa