French striker Thierry Henry was fined $2,000 for unintentionally injuring goalkeeper Kevin Hartman during a U.S. Major League Soccer (MLS) match between New York Red Bulls and Dallas last week.
During the match on September 16, Henry celebrated a goal scored by a Red Bulls teammate by kicking the ball back into the net, accidentally injuring the Dallas goalkeeper, who was caught unawares.
Hartman sustained a knee injury and will now miss two-three weeks of play.
"There was no intent to hurt or be reckless. Henry is not that type of a player to do something like that to hurt someone. It was absolutely an accident," Red Bulls head coach Hans Backe was quoted by MLSSoccer.com as saying.
"Often when a striker scores, it is not uncommon for the other striker to come in and kick that ball hard. I've seen it all the time happen. It's nothing really uncommon," Backe added.
Henry, who has played for FC Arsenal and Barcelona during his football career, apologized to Hartman saying he acted "foolishly."
The 33-year-old French striker began playing in the MLS for New York Red Bulls this summer. Henry has played 123 games for his national French team, scoring 51 goals and helping to win the 1998 World Cup.
MOSCOW, September 21 (RIA Novosti)
