Paris St-Germain full-back Serge Aurier was stopped from
entering the United Kingdom and will miss Wednesday's
Champions League match against Arsenal.
The 23-year-old Ivory Coast international was given a two-
month suspended prison sentence in September for assaulting
a police officer.
PSG say UK authorities granted Aurier a visa in October but
revoked it on 16 November, citing his conviction.
The French champions said the timing of the ruling showed "a
lack of respect".
But the Home Office said in a statement: "The immigration
rules clearly state that non-EU nationals who have received a
custodial sentence of less than 12 months within the last five
years will be refused on criminality grounds."
Aurier is appealing against his conviction, leading PSG to
believe he is entitled to be presumed innocent.
"Paris St-Germain strongly regrets the presumption of
innocence has not influenced Britain's decision," said the club
in a statement.
"On several occasions, Uefa has also transmitted its total
support of Paris St-Germain to the British authorities
regarding this case, in order to preserve the integrity of its
competitions."
PSG added they "deplore" the timing of the final decision.
Aurier was applying for a Tier 2 Sportsperson visa, which
allows an individual to stay in a country for up to three years
and typically takes three weeks to process.
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