An English Football League star has expressed deep remorse, stating that he has transformed for the better after an incident where he accidentally fractured a man’s skull with a rock while defending his mother. This incident occurred during a tense situation in 2020.

Ilias Chair, a key player for Queens Park Rangers, found himself in the spotlight following an altercation in Belgium’s Ardennes Forest. The situation unfolded as his mother was injured amidst a chaotic attempt to board a bus during their summer holiday. In a moment of distress, Chair reacted by striking out with a rock.

In early 2024, Chair was sentenced to two years in prison, with half of the sentence suspended. However, after filing an appeal, his criminal charge was downgraded to a misdemeanor by July of the same year, reflecting a more nuanced understanding of the incident.

In a heartfelt interview, the 28-year-old athlete, who is reportedly married with a young son, expressed his regret, saying he wishes he could undo the past. Nonetheless, he maintains that his actions were a “natural and human reaction” under the circumstances.

“Seeing my mother in such a vulnerable state on the ground triggered an immediate response from me,” Chair shared with The Athletic. “The situation escalated quickly, and although my actions were instinctive, they were not justified.”

An EFL footballer says he regrets an incident which saw him break a man’s skull with a rock to defend his mother

QPR playmaker Ilias Chair caused a 2cm fracture in the man’s skull on holiday in 2020

He further elaborated on his appeal process, noting that the judge recognized the emotional and human elements of the case. “At the end of the day, witnessing your mother injured and on the floor is incredibly distressing,” he explained. “While it doesn’t excuse my actions, it was a deeply human reaction to an overwhelming situation.”

‘I wrote a letter to him and his family to say how sorry I am and apologise from the bottom of my heart. I said I wish them nothing but the best in life.

‘I learned from the whole situation,’ he said. ‘We are humans, we make mistakes. My mistakes are out there in public, which is not an issue because as footballers we have the fruits of being in the public eye and playing football, which a lot of people in this world want to do, but at the same time, some negatives come with it. You have to deal with them.

‘It has changed me for good in terms of taking more responsibility.’

The Morocco international has also opened up on the mental trauma of going through the legal process and the burden of guilt.

Describing the day he found out about his initial prison sentence, he said: ‘That was probably the darkest day of my life. You automatically go into the worst-case scenario — everything I’ve worked for, everything I’ve done for myself, for my family, could be gone. It still makes me emotional thinking about it now.

‘It was something that I needed to fight, really,’ he added. ‘My own demons.’

Chair, who joined QPR in 2017 and dreams of taking them into the Premier League, was able to play on even after receiving his prison sentence.

Chair wrote the man a letter and says he has learned to be a better person after a drawn-out legal case

He was initially given a two-year prison sentence – half of it suspended – but his appeal saw that changed to 150 hours of community service and a £1,400 fine

That’s because, in Belgian law, the alleged perpetrator is free to go about their business until the legal process is complete if they appeal immediately. 

Now he hopes to put the ordeal behind him.

The man he injured, Niels T, was left with a skull fracture of 2cm and was quickly treated at a hospital in Reims before being relocated to one in Belgium for a ‘long time’.

As of February 2024, almost four years after the incident, the man was ‘still suffering the consequences’ and had been unable to work as a truck driver for a substantial length of time, as per The Athletic. 

Chair had been caught by surprise by the seriousness of the case after initially handing it over to a legal team when it was deemed a civil matter. 

Finding out that he had been prosecuted in a criminal case in January 2024, Chair is said to have gone into a ‘state of shock’.

But his career has survived the anguish and stress that the case caused and he remains one of QPR’s most important players.