Russian footballers Kokorin & Mamaev released after nearly 1 year in prison

Russian football players Aleksandr Kokorin and Pavel Mamaev have been released on parole after spending almost one year in prison for hooliganism in two assaults which sparked a public outcry in the country.

The two Russian Premier League stars, both internationals, were handed prison sentences in May after being found guilty of violent attacks last year which left two people seriously injured in Moscow. They had been in detention since October.

READ MORE: Russian football stars Kokorin & Mamaev sentenced to combined 3 years in prison colony over brawls

Kokorin and Mamaev were accused of initiating a brawl in a cafe during which they insulted a government official, and after which Kokorin hit him over the head with a chair.

The same day the footballers were caught on camera assaulting a second man, a driver for a Russian TV presenter, leaving him with brain damage as a result of a series of blows to the head.

Zenit St. Petersburg striker Kokorin was sentenced to 18 months in a general penal colony, while Krasnodar midfielder Mamaev was handed 17 months. The court ordered the two footballers’ release on parole earlier this month.

The players were released from the colony in the Belgorod region on Tuesday.

Representatives for Kokorin, 28, said that he had agreed a new deal with Zenit, although there are reports that he will first train with fellow Premier League club Sochi.

The same representative said that Mamaev, 31, had an existing contract with Krasnodar, although it has previously been reported that the club would seek to sever ties with the midfielder.