QPR’s Iliad chairman speaks publicly for the first time about his sentence to 12 months in prison for his role in the 2020 attack in Belgium.
During a heated argument with another group (who were supposed to get the bus back from the excursion) after a kayaking trip in the Ardennes Forest, he hit a man (Niels T., who was with his sister and a friend) on the head with a rock, fracturing his skull (which measured 2 cm).
This happened after Chair saw his mother injured in the scuffle. According to the Belgian prosecutor’s office, the altercation involved “hitting, scratching and biting.”
In January 2024, he was convicted in absentia and sentenced to two years in prison (one suspended) plus €15,000 in compensation. The chairman successfully appealed. His cousin Jaber, in turn, was sentenced to six months in prison.
Six months later the conviction was reduced to a misdemeanor and he was given 150 hours of community service and a €1,600 fine.
After some reflection, the Chairman says he deeply regrets the incident, personally apologizes to the victim and his family, and describes it as a temporary loss of control in defense of his mother.
He says the darkest period of his life made him become more responsible, especially as a father and role model.
Despite the legal crisis, he continued playing for Queens Park Rangers throughout 2024, helping them avoid relegation, signing a new long-term contract and is now more focused on football, aiming to reach the Premier League with the club that supported him.
“I’m really sorry about what happened…I just wish I could take it back.”
In January 2024, QPR and Morocco midfielder Ilias Chair’s life changed forever when he was found guilty of fracturing a man’s skull in an altercation four years earlier.
He speaks for the first time… pic.twitter.com/GUsQiod2Ng
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) November 26, 2025
the chairman told The Athletic: “I mistakenly, perhaps naively, let them manage (the legal deadline). That’s on me. I’m a grown man and I should have taken control of the situation sooner. It should never have escalated to the point it did.”
“Although I was aware that my speaking time had expired at the sentencing, I was there for the first time to appear with my new legal team and to show that I have respect for the legal system in Belgium and that I never intended to disrespect it.”
“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 and for my family could be gone. It still affects me when I think about it.”
On playing with the threat of prison time: “Of course it’s difficult to deal with things like this, but maybe it’s because of the upbringing my father gave me. Even though it was probably the lowest point in my life, he protected me for situations like this.”
“My mentality was: You’re a man, take responsibility for everything that happened that day and move on. Your family needs you. There’s still a boss who expects you to perform on Saturday and teammates who rely on you.”
“A lot has happened in my life and once I’m on the pitch I often forget it,” he says. “But that was the one thing that stuck with me the whole time. A lot of people told me, ‘Maybe go see a psychologist,’ but I’ve had sports psychologists and for me it’s not really effective. It’s more effective if I talk to my family about it. It was something I really had to fight – my own demons.”
“I just saw my mother lying on the floor in a vulnerable and frightening position and I reacted. Everything happened so quickly in response to what was happening. Still, it should never have happened.”
“I have written a letter to him and his family expressing how sorry I am and apologizing from the bottom of my heart. I wish them nothing but the best in life.”
“I spoke to the judge and I think the judge appreciated the human side of the whole case. Because at the end of the day, being with the family and seeing the injured mother on the floor was no excuse for me as a young man to do what I did, but at the same time it was such a natural and human reaction that I had to respond to that circumstance.”
“I said it throughout the trial and I said it to the judge that day: I’m truly sorry for what happened to that person. I just wish I could take it back. I sincerely apologize to the entire family.
“I learned from the whole situation. As a father, as a role model, as everything I need to be for my son. It was time for me to make sure that those things are no longer associated with me from this day forward.”
“We are human, we make mistakes. My mistakes are in the public eye, which is not a problem because as footballers we have the fruits of being in the public eye and playing football, which many people in this world want to do, but at the same time it also brings some negative aspects. You have to deal with them.”
“It changed me forever by taking on more responsibility.
“I’m just grateful that I can still go out and have fun and play football. I don’t really see it as a job. I’m playing the game that I love and I’m very grateful for that.”
