A Sparta Rotterdam player who broke an opponent’s leg during a match last December has been handed a six-month jail sentence suspended for two years.

Sparta forward Rachid Bouaouzan, 21, was banned for 12 matches after being sent off following the incident in which Go Ahead Eagles player Niels Kokmeijer suffered a double leg fracture.

Kokmeijer spent a long period in hospital and may never be able to play again, prosecutors said.