2 hours Ago By Adelaide Lang
An international footballer has been sacked from his A-League team after he threatened to kill police officers who tried to usher him out of a bar following a day of heavy drinking. Dino Arslanagic, 31, shouted that he would shoot and kill police officers outside Merivale venue Jam Bar in Sydney’s CBD just after midnight on December 19. He had spent the day of December 18 drinking in the Hunter Valley wine region, dining at well-known restaurant Totti’s, and attending a concert before he decided to end the night at Merivale venue Jam Bar with his fiancee Vasilisa Artemova.
On Wednesday, his lawyer Kiki Kyriacou told Sydney Downing Centre Local Court that Arslanagic “freely admits having consumed a significant amount of alcohol that day”. A bar manager told police he watched the Macarthur FC centre back becoming progressively more intoxicated before an incident occurred which prompted him to ask the footballer to leave. The court was told Arslanagic became aggressive after another man inappropriately touched Artemova while she was dancing.
Police escorted the couple out of the venue and took the bottle of champagne Arslanagic had been clutching in his hand. According to the agreed facts, this infuriated the two-time Belgian Cup winner. “Do you want to f***ing go?” he asked one of the officers while getting close to his face.
He continued to resist police directions and bat their hands away as Artemova attempted to move in between her fiance and the police. According to the court documents, Constable Caleb Hansford deployed capsicum spray towards the footballer out of fear of an imminent assault. “You spray my eye, do you know who I am? I play football,” Arslanagic yelled at him.
“I play A-League football.” He then pointed his fingers in the direction of Constable Talon Bolton-Plimmer and gestured as if he was pulling the trigger of a gun. “I’ll shoot you,” he told the police officer.
After threatening to slap another constable, the Belgian national turned back to Constable Bolton-Plimmer and said: “I will kill you.” “Come to my country, one bullet in your head, you’re dead,” he told the assembled officers. According to the agreed facts, Artemova positioned herself in between her fiancee and the police but he continued to try and push around her.
She then put her hand on Constable Hansford’s shoulder and pushed him before he engaged in a violent wrestle with Arslanagic, who was finally handcuffed by two officers. The footballer looked sombre in court as he pleaded guilty to being an excluded person who failed to leave a premises when required, intimidating a police officer in execution of their duty and resisting a police officer in execution of their duty. His lawyer told the court Arslanagic had lost his contract with Macarthur FC as a result of the nasty incident, which “brings disrepute to the club”.
“There’s no ill feeling between him and the club. They’ve been supportive of him in these circumstances,” Mr Kyriacou said. “It’s a professional sport, people are required to conduct themselves in a particular way.
” He explained the couple intend to leave the country to return to Europe because they have “no more business in Australia” after Arslanagic’s football contract was terminated. The couple have never been in trouble with the law before, Mr Kyriacou said, and they were “ashamed” and “embarrassed by their offending”. The police prosecutor pushed for a conviction, noting the police officers were “just doing their job” when they were threatened and intimidated.
Magistrate Daniel Covington emphasised the seriousness of the threats to kill and shoot, which were repeated throughout the confrontation. “It seems obvious from the facts that all police wanted was for them to go home ..
. but they didn’t,” he said. “It’s clear from the facts that alcohol played a factor.
” The magistrate accepted that the incident in the Jam Bar had “led to (the couple’s) moods being elevated” before the altercation with police. Dino Arslanagic, an international footballer for Sydney's A-League club Macarthur FC, has been convicted of a drunken altercation with cops outside a venue. He acknowledged they were both apologetic and had pleaded guilty as soon as possible.
Mr Covington convicted Arslanagic of all three offences and fined him $1500. Artemova was convicted of assaulting and resisting a police officer in execution of their duty and fined $1100. Neither of them spoke as they left the courthouse on Wednesday.
It comes less than four months after Arslanagic signed with Macarthur FC after playing for top European clubs in his home country and a Saudi Arabian side..
