The Metz supporter who racially abused Valenciennes captain Abdeslam Ouaddou has been banned for three years and handed a suspended prison sentence.

The supporter, a 37-year-old named simply as "Christope H," was handed a three month deferred prison term and given a football banning order, unusual on mainland Europe but commonplace in England, which prevents him from attending any match until 2011.

The magistrate handed out the punishment after deciding that insults aimed at Ouaddou, who is a Morocco international defender, were "of a public and racial character."

The lawyer defending Mr H. claimed that his client had a low IQ and was "being made a scapegoat", while the offender himself admitted making the insults, but claimed they were aimed at one of his own team's players.

"I was angry," he admitted. "Metz were losing. I lost control, but I am not a racist.

"I was not thinking straight, I regret it and I offer my sincerest apologies."

"This kind of thing is not ordinary stupidity," stated human rights lawyer Michel Tubiana. "It is ordinary hate."

"The convicted man represents a phenomenon of society, even if he went over the top," observed Raphael Nidand, a lawyer for the international league against racism and anti-Semitism.

"Neither Metz nor the other clubs are totally innocent in this affair. The reaction is not about punishment. It is still unregulated."

Reda Maher / Eurosport