Barcelona Star Gerard Pique Fined for Insulting Traffic Police
Gerard Pique found himself in the middle of a parking ticket row and was slapped with a heavy fine for losing his temper and insulting the traffic police.
A Spanish judge hit Barcelona star Gerard Pique with a heavy fine on Wednesday after the 2010 World Cup winner lost his temper and insulted two traffic police.
The confrontation happened in October 2014 while Pique was waiting in the passenger seat of his brother's illegally parked car. (Messi Move Barcelona to Within a Point of Real Madrid)
The judge heard that the 28-year-old husband of Colombian singing star Shakira tried to persuade the police he had only stopped for five minutes, but his excuses were ignored.
When given the parking ticket the footballer lost his temper and threw it at them while insulting them in a an offensive manner.
A fine of 900 euros was recommended but the judge told the court that due to Pique's high salary at Barcelona the fine was being raised to 10,500 euros (11,600 dollars, 7,600 pounds).
Pique was not in court Wednesday but made a public apology via his Twitter account at the time, claiming the incident had been blown out of proportion, but saying he was very sorry and wouldn't do it again.
Pique has won the Champions League with Manchester United and Barcelona, while with Spain he won both the World Cup in 2010 and Euro 2012.