The former Portuguese footballer, who is now in the fishing industry, is facing a sanction for environmental crime

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Former Real Madrid player Fábio Coentrao is involved in a case of illegal seafood trade.

Former Portuguese footballer Fábio Coentrao is back in the news despite years of retirement from the public spotlight. However, his return to the media is not related to soccer, but to justice. 

The former Real Madrid, AS Monaco and Benfica Lisbon player is facing a sanction for an environmental crime after being involved in a case of illegal seafood trade by having almost a ton of undeclared seafood stored in one of his shellfish farms.

Coentrao, who comes from a fishing community in northern Portugal, decided to continue the family tradition when he retired from soccer in 2021. 

He faces a fine for environmental crime

The events occurred on Wednesday, when health inspectors visited several warehouses in the fishing port of Póvoa de Varzim, in northern Portugal. In one of the warehouses visited by the inspectors was a crustacean farm owned by the ex-football player. There they found 12 saltwater tanks full of lobsters, shrimps, spider crabs and shrimps. 

In total, there were more than one ton of crustaceans, an amount that was confiscated by the authorities due to several irregularities, such as the absence of invoices or marketing license. Coentrao had said that he only had 260 kilos, but in this review by the health inspectors, the authorities found that in the warehouse there was a quantity of shellfish four times greater than what he had legally declared.

The ex-footballer now faces a fine for committing an environmental crime.