Less than a week after complaints were filed against a Gap Foot 05 instructor for suspicion of violence against adolescents following training, parents are testifying.
Parents of young football players from Gap Foot 05 testify to suspicions of violence perpetrated by an educator following a training session this Thursday, December 5.
Marc* had never seen his son like that. Since Thursday evening, her 14-year-old has not really been the same. According to the young man's statements, corroborated by other testimonies, a Gap Foot 05 educator allegedly hit players in the U16 category in a locker room.
The staff member who is not responsible for this group demanded that these young people calm down. Not appreciating their casualness, he allegedly retrieved a plastic marker used to demarcate the pitches, and headed into the locker room before locking it.
He allegedly violently hit at least two young players, before opening the doors again after several minutes.
“It is mainly psychologically that my son is affected. Friday morning, we did not send my son to college but in the afternoon he had an evaluation. Thirty minutes later, I received his phone call. He is sad , shocked. It's serious, what happened”, regrets Marc who was not at the stadium at the time of the events.
“The first children ready to leave have picked up”
Magalie was there. His son plays with Marc's and he also indicates having been abused by this educator.
“I was waiting for my son in the parking lot. It lasted. And I saw him come out in a trance, making big gestures, all red. And there, he told me: 'mom, we were hit in the locker room with a stake'”, recalls the mother of the family.
She immediately went to the stadium to try to understand. There were children and educators around the offending coach. “With Olympian calm, he told me what he had done. He passed by the locker rooms, the children were making too much noise. He asked for calm. They didn't want it. He recovered a picket, closed the locker room and the first children ready to leave picked up. There were around twenty in the locker room. One kid even called his father to die,” Magalie seethed.
Her son was hit in the leg and arm. Marc's son had a huge bump and the mark of the stake embedded in his back. Both filed a complaint. “I hope that this educator will no longer be in contact with children, that’s the minimum,” she asks today.
Other educators in shock
The educator incriminated by the adolescents and their parents is 24 years old. He has been present at Gap Foot 05 for several months. Overwhelmed by the situation, he would admit to having behaved unacceptable.
According to our information, he called parents, but also educators to apologize. If Marc has not forgiven the educator for his actions, he is compassionate. “We are not facing a madman, a psychopath or an evil man.” The father considers that this man from a foreign country “is not aware that the rules are not the same”.
Within the club, the other educators are also in shock. One of them was to appear at the Gap police station this Tuesday, December 10 to be interviewed as a witness.
“We didn't understand what was happening. I was putting away the equipment when it happened. Then, someone quickly came to pick me up because of an incident in the locker room. To break a hard plastic milestone on the back of a child, you have to go,” testifies this member of the club, present in the stadium when the events occurred.
“Why did he do that? Why did he close the locker room for five minutes to be alone with the children? We were really scared. I really blame myself for not having been there, I could have avoided that.” he concludes.
The accused coach excluded from the club
Patrick Greco, the president of Gap Foot 05, contacted the city police station to find out more. Undermined by the situation, the leader spoke at length with the young people and their parents.
“The person incriminated, for me, is not a person who has the profile of a sanguine, angry man. I am stunned by these facts,” Patrick Greco told BFM DICI this Tuesday.
“As president, I find this unacceptable. We are an association with young people and an educator does not have to do what he is accused of. He is no longer part of the club and I have notified him.”
If the sporting and disciplinary aspects were quickly closed, we will have to be patient for the legal aspect of this case.
Marion Lozac'hmeur, Gap prosecutor, confirms to BFM DICI the opening of an investigation. “Two complaints have currently been filed. We have received two medical certificates. We will carry out hearings and will end with that of the accused. For me, there are zero and two days of total incapacity for work”, she indicates. “We do not expect that from an educator. We take this procedure seriously” concludes the magistrate.
*First names have been changed
Valentin Doyen with Florent Bascoul
