Footballer Mohamed Ihattaren received a community service sentence of sixty hours on Tuesday. According to the Public Prosecution Service (OM), he is guilty of mistreating his ex-partner and attempted threat.
According to the OM, Ihattaren attempted to threaten someone at the end of 2022. This is evident from telephone conversations tapped by the police, in a case in which the RKC Waalwijk footballer was initially not a suspect.
In February 2023, Ihattaren assaulted his then-girlfriend by hitting her a number of times. His ex-partner filed a report, but later tried to withdraw it. The OM decided to prosecute Ihattaren anyway.
Ihattaren admitted to both facts during the hearing and said he was sorry. “At the time, I was in an unhealthy and emotionally stressful relationship, in which I made wrong choices. I ended up in a pitch-black period,” he says in an interview with De Telegraaf. “I take full responsibility for my behavior and accept the community service order.”
When determining the sentence, the OM took into account the fact that the former player of PSV and Ajax has never been arrested for a similar offense. The officer also took into account that the offenses committed were some time ago and Ihattaren has not been in contact with the judiciary since then. The footballer has also sought appropriate help.
Ihattaren was known as a great football talent
For years, Ihattaren was known as one of the greatest football talents in the Netherlands. At the age of sixteen he made his debut for PSV in the Eredivisie and as an eighteen-year-old he belonged to the pre-selection of the Dutch national team.
Things went less well when Roger Schmidt became PSV’s trainer in the summer of 2020. Ihattaren regularly clashed with the German and the management of PSV. He also ran into trouble off the field. Ihattaren was arrested twice for a conflict in the relational sphere. In September 2022, his car went up in flames.
After periods at PSV, Juventus, Sampdoria, Ajax, Samsunspor and Slavia Prague, Ihattaren joined RKC Waalwijk in September. He scored four times in 24 games. RKC was relegated to the Keuken Kampioen Divisie last season.