The incident is said to have occurred outside a nightclub in Paris at around 5am when the officer attempted to intervene in an argument Dalmat was having with his wife.

"It has been confirmed to us that he is in prison, but we are waiting to find out more," Emmanuel Desplats, Sochaux's administrative director, told L'Equipe. "We will release a statement soon on this subject."

The club statement reported that they did not have any official news on the matter and that Dalmat had been given permission to travel to Paris where he had been due to take part in a television interview this afternoon.