Ex France player charged with attempted murder

Updated: 2011-10-26 11:12

(Agencies)

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STRASBOURG, France - Former France soccer international Tony Vairelles has been charged with attempted murder after a shooting outside a nightclub near the eastern town of Nancy last weekend, a state prosecutor said on Tuesday.  

Vairelles, who won eight caps for France between 1998 and 2000 and helped RC Lens win their only French league title in 1998, was at the scene of the shooting and was arrested along with his three brothers on Sunday morning.

Police said Vairelles's two younger brothers were kicked out of a nightclub in Essey-les-Nancy, a Nancy suburb, on Sunday morning and later returned, with their two elder brothers, to confront the club doormen.

Police reports said shots were fired, injuring two doormen slightly and the third more seriously as a bullet struck him near the spine. Police said his life was not in danger.

Tony Vairelles, 38, started his professional career in Nancy in 1991, before becoming a key player at RC Lens from 1995-99.

He then played for Olympique Lyon, Bastia and Stade Rennes.

In 2009, he moved to Gueugnon, of which he became part owner before the club went bankrupt last April.