Man sentenced after Amsterdam riots following Morocco's World Cup defeat

An 18-year-old man has been sentenced to 100 hours of community service and a 21-day prison sentence, 18 days of which were suspended, for his role in the riots that broke out in Amsterdam after Morocco's World Cup quarter-final defeat on July 9, according to Dutch news agency ANP.

The man was convicted of throwing stones at a police van in the Osdorp district on the night of the match. Although he admitted being among around 200 people while wearing a balaclava and filming the unrest, he denied throwing the stones. His lawyer argued that he had been mistaken for someone else, but the court found the police identification credible. Prosecutors had sought a four-week prison sentence, half of it suspended. Having already spent three days in pre-trial detention, he will not return to prison.

The conviction comes less than two weeks after Morocco's World Cup quarter-final defeat to France sparked scattered unrest in several Dutch cities. According to Dutch authorities, eight people were arrested in Amsterdam, while additional arrests were made in The Hague and Utrecht following incidents involving fireworks, bottles thrown at police and public disorder.