It should have been a party. In any case, we can imagine the pleasure of the young U16 footballers from Puy foot 43 to travel to Lyon-Duchère.
At the end of this weekend of November 3, there was no stake: just a friendly meeting with their counterparts from the Rhône, just to find out where we are sportingly speaking.
Friendly, the match was only in name, because the meeting ended in exchanges of blows.
“Stupid, pitiful, unfortunate! »
If, contacted by us, the president of the Haute-Loire Football District, Laurent Lerat, explains that he is not aware of the details of last weekend's incidents, one of the leaders of Puy Foot 43 recounts the facts, his voice still filled with emotion a week later.
He doesn't beat around the bush. “It’s stupid, pitiful, unfortunate! » He who admits to having been involved in football “for a very long time” has difficulty understanding what happened on the Lyon-Duchère pitch.
A trivial foul play
“It started from a banal game mistake. Perhaps it was attributable to one of our young people? Perhaps… It took on unimaginable proportions, especially for a meeting of young people. »
The match referee, also manager of the Lyon-Duchère club, seems to have ignited the powder. “The decision was contested. But instead of calming things down, the referee added more. Young people from Lyon-Duchère invaded the pitch, they started chasing our players, who we quickly sheltered in the locker room. »
At the same time, the parents of the young ponots present, seeing the scuffle turn into fistfights, also joined the field. There, they suffered blows from “young people and adults of the club as well as supporters”, some parents were even injured.
A video of the scuffles
So that these incidents do not remain a dead letter, a file was put together and sent to the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Football League. “We have also provided a video which is clear proof. It relates everything, from the moment of fault to the fight. »
Was there an apology from the leaders of the Lyon club? “Yes, the president called Christophe Gauthier (president of Puy Foot 43, Editor’s note). The referee, who is also a manager at Lyon-Duchère, would have been fired. But we have no certainty. Regardless, these facts are too serious to be ignored. »
Now the ball is in the League's court.
