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FC Barcelona’s Arthur charged with drink driving after Ferrari crash

Palafrugell, Spain, Aug 17 (efe-epa).- Brazilian soccer player Arthur Melo, who is in the middle of a summer transfer from FC Barcelona to Juventus, was on Monday charged with drink driving by the local police in Palafrugell in northwestern Spain as he failed an alcohol test after a small accident.

Municipal sources told Efe that the midfielder, who crashed his Ferrari in the early hours of Monday, was found with a breath alcohol content of 0.55 milligrams per liter.

According to Spanish traffic rules, although a conventional alcohol test has a permissible limit of 0.60 mg/l, in case the vehicle is involved in an accident — even a light one — the criminal liability threshold drops to 0.40 mg/l.

The accident took place around 4 am on the Suro street close to an industrial area in the city of Palafrugell, around 120 kilometers (75 miles) away from Barcelona, with evidence suggesting that the car hit the sidewalk and mounted it before crashing into a lamppost.

As the occupants of the Ferrari were unscathed and the car did not suffer major damage, the Brazilian international was let go after the alcohol test with one of his fellow passengers at the wheel.

Arthur is expected to join training with his new club Juventus from next week.

The incident comes days after Barcelona reached an agreement with the midfielder to close a disciplinary action against him for refusing to join practice and returning late from holidays in an apparent gesture of rebellion against manager Quique Setien following his transfer.

Arthur was involved in a transfer deal worth 82 million euros ($97 million) between Barcelona and Juventus, with the Brazilian being swapped for Bosnian midfielder Miralem Pjanic. EFE-EPA

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