Updated January 31, 2018 14:26:19

Celebrity chef George Calombaris has won his appeal against a conviction for punching a 19-year-old man at the 2017 A-League grand final in Sydney, in a moment he described as a "brain freeze".

The judge said the matter had been proven, but there was some provocation, "the blow was not very forceful", and Calombaris was "a person of exceptional character".

The 39-year-old host of the TV show Masterchef watched intently as a video of the incident was played to the court.

He repeatedly expressed his regret for "that silly mistake I made on that day. It was a brain freeze … it was a moment in time I'm deeply, deeply, deeply upset about".

The court heard Calombaris was the number-one ticket holder for the Melbourne Victory, and was verbally confronted by football fans about a pay dispute involving workers in his Made Establishment, which includes 18 restaurants and employs 700 people.

The victim then used an offensive word to describe Calombaris's mother.

"You don't call anyone's mother that word, regardless of whether you know them or not," Calombaris said.

"I should have walked up to him and said 'That's not nice. Do you know my mother?' And I didn't do that."

"What I did was wrong, unacceptable. And I apologised the next day."

Calombaris said he lost two key ambassadorship roles within two days of the incident being televised, including a $250,000 deal with Bulla Dairy and close to half a million dollars a year from the motor group ULR.

But Calombaris said the emotional impact was greater than the financial consequences and admitted he had hurt the victim, his family, friends, stakeholders and business partners.

He also said he recognised that he was a role model and that he was working towards "being a better man".

Calombaris said he had stepped down as Melbourne Victory's number-one ticket holder and banned himself from games for 12 months.

His lawyer, David Edwards QC, said the incident was trivial and completely out of character.

Judge Andrew Scotting said he accepted Calombaris's remorse was genuine and that he was unlikely to reoffend.

The judge dismissed the charged and imposed a 12-month good behaviour bond.

Topics: courts-and-trials, assault, soccer, arts-and-entertainment, television, sydney-2000

First posted January 31, 2018 14:01:52