A football fan who had a Paris Saint-Germain replica shirt printed with the name of Osama bin Laden on the back found himself in court on Friday, charged with defending terrorism.

The 21-year-old, who bought the shirt in the club store on the Champs-Elysees, was arrested after a shop assistant reported him saying he wanted to honour the memory of the late al Qaeda leader.

In court, the accused denied the comments attributed to him and defended his purchase as a joke. "I've seen a lot worse than that -- shirts with Adolf Hitler on the back for example," he told the court.

The prosecutor had initially proposed restricting the legal follow-up to a simple caution but the case came to court because the accused did not respond to a summons.

As a result, the prosecutor is now seeking a 300-euro fine. The judge will deliver his verdict on December 21.