A PRANKSTER who paid fans to storm the pitch at the Champions League final was branded the “real villain” as the first invader appeared in court.
Russian streamer Andrey Burim was singled out by the judge as he handed a football banning order to Ukrainian Manchester City fan Yevhenii Lubnenko, 29.
Burim is said to have offered each of the pitch invaders £250,000 for the stunt.
Uber driver Lubnenko and two others tried to invade Wembley’s pitch on Saturday wearing T-shirts emblazoned with “Mellstroy” — Burim’s screen name.
Lubnenko, who lives in Los Angeles, admitted breaching the Football Offences Act and was banned from attending any matches in England and Wales for three years and fined £264.
But District Judge Michael Snow said: “The real villain is the Russian who is offering people money to take part in what you would describe as a prank.
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“But I can’t punish him as he is not here.”
However, Judge Snow admitted that the banning order was “wildly irrelevant” as it would not stop Lubnenko from attending matches in the US.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
