PARIS: A French football fan has been jailed for five months for exploding a smoke bomb at a leahue matc between Lens and Saint-Etienne.

The incident was one of a string of incidents – almost one every weekend – featuring continuing hooligan mayhem which has caught the authorities unprepared.

A court in Béthune criminal judged the 25-year-old for incidents in during the first two matches of the season, a 1-1 draw away to Rennes on August 8 and then a 2-2 home draw against Saint-Etienne August 15.

The court was told he had wanted to “put some atmosphere into the stadium.”

He had been  convicted of similar charges in 2017 and has now also been banned from all stadia for a year.

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