Tuesday, during the program “Golf+ Le Mag”, the editorial team distanced itself from Patrice Barquez and Fabrice Tarnaud in the apology message addressed to viewers.
“Very happy to meet you again, like every Tuesday, with the whole team, in the wake of this sixth edition of the French Open, in the company, this evening, of Joanna Klatten, François Calmels, Thierry David and Adrien Toubiana …” This is how Thomas Guichard, journalist presenter, opened “Golf+ Le Mag”, the weekly meeting for fans of the little white ball on the encrypted channel, on Tuesday. “But before we start this show, he continuedwe wanted to come back to the comments made by two of our consultants last Thursday, live on Canal Plus Sport, as part of the French Open. »
For the record, Fabrice Tarnaud of Patrice Barquez had indulged in very clumsy comments about Béatrice Pavon-Deler, mother of the No. 1 French golfer Matthieu Pavon, live during the first round of the FedEx Open de France which was taking place until October 13 at the Golf National de Saint-Quentin en Yvelines. “You told me something before we went on the air, you told me that you were there when Matthew was conceived,” launched Fabrice Tarnaud.
“Yes. Because it’s important. Nobody knows that. Maybe even Beatrice doesn’t know it.” replied Patrice Barquez. »Weren’t you in the room? Is his dad Michel Pavon?”
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Values
If the two former professional players both quickly apologized for these inappropriate words, the sports director of the Canal+ group Thomas Sénécal – who became aware of the situation at the end of the day on Saturday – considered that their remarks were contrary to the values of Canal+ and that it was, therefore, unthinkable to ignore them. After apologizing by calling Béatrice and Matthieu Pavon directly, Thomas Sénécal and the Canal+ group removed the two consultants from the air on Sunday, asking them not to show up at the Golf National. Fabrice Tarnaud and Patrice Barquez were replaced at short notice, while many French players from the European Tour (Victor Perez, Ugo Coussaud, Julien Guerrier, Adrien Saddier…) boycotted the Golf+ microphone at the end of each round of the event, in support of Matthieu Pavon.
“Remarks that are not only unacceptable, said the presenter of “Golf+ Le Mag”but also out of their imagination, since neither the places, nor the dates, nor the facts, nor the people evoked by what was said correspond to any reality. » And to conclude: “On behalf of Canal+ and the entire editorial team, we reiterate our most sincere apologies to Matthieu Pavon, to his parents, Béatrice and Michel, who were offended by these comments, as well as to you, our subscribers, to whom we have given hearing a sequence which in no way corresponds to our values and which had no place on our airwaves. »
In this broadcast on Tuesday October 15, François Calmels paid a vibrant tribute to his friend Gregory Havret, a young retiree from professional golf who played his 560e and last tournament on the European Tour during the French Open. Seized by emotion, the consultant for Golf+ and the Canal+ channels showed emotion and made remarks on set with touching sincerity.
