The only way Sydneysider Nektarios Kalaitzakis will see the club he barracks for – the Canterbury Bulldogs – play footy for the next ten years is by watching them on TV.
Last week the NRL banned Kalaitzakis from every ground or building used by the NRL until the end of 2025, after what he himself described as a “cowardly attack” on a Rabbitohs fan outside ANZ Stadium when the two teams last played in April.
The ban is being enforced by having Kalaitzakis’ photograph circulated to clubs and venues for security staff to act on if he attempts to get in.
Kalaitzakis pleaded guilty to assaulting 21-year-old Rabbitohs supporter Mathew Makaritis immediately after the match.
Mr Makaritis, a physiotherapy student, suffered a large cut above his eye and needed hospital treatment. A police statement said the attack by Kalaitzakis was “totally unprovoked”.
“When asked to describe the victim, the accused stated: “I hit him from behind and that was a cowardly attack. I don’t know what the poor boy looked like from the front, I just saw a South Sydney jersey,” the statement added.
Kalaitzakis was fined $1,000 and issued with a good behaviour bond and outside the court he said he was “very sorry” for the incident.
The NRL’s head of integrity Nick Weeks said: “There is no place in our game for fans who want to engage in activity which threatens or endangers other fans.”
Source: News Corp
