INTERVIEW. Violence against Football educators: “there will be no matches this weekend in Haute-Garonne”, decides the district president

Why did you make this decision to cancel all matches this weekend?

It is a decision which comes in response to the extremely serious and unacceptable events which occurred in Colomiers. Two educators saw their cars burn at their home in the middle of the night. We have just passed another stage of violence and, at the request of many clubs in Haute-Garonne, we wanted no meeting to take place this weekend, in football animation, at youth and senior levels.

Also read:
Near Toulouse, the cars of two U11 football coaches set on fire an hour apart in the night

Also read:
Violence against Colomiers educators, the football league supports the club and its coaches

How many matches are affected?

This represents, in our district, in 11-a-side football, more than 180 matches. 280 teams from four teams in animation football, therefore among young people, are also affected. Finally, the Occitanie Football League has, for its part, decided to cancel all youth matches within its fold, i.e. 140 matches. This is an important, unprecedented decision, but it is nothing compared to what these two educators, and all the others, suffered.

How can we explain this violence against educators?

This violence is also found at school. Their offspring are essential for a parent, but not at any cost. In our case, parents think that their child will end up professional, while this is only true in 1% of cases. Basically, the educators are there to teach them, certainly football, but also life in society. The problem is that parents project themselves towards the business side of football and think that their child will one day earn the salaries of football stars without worrying about the fun side of the sport.

How does this violence manifest?

It can be physical, verbal, at the side of the pitch or on social networks… In fact, parents no longer tolerate their child playing in teams of two or three, or not playing the whole match and doing things intolerable. It was therefore necessary to say stop and call for respect and kindness. I also want to remind you that without educators, there is no more football.

After referees, who are often attacked, are educators the new targets?

Often the referee is too easy a target. The educator is, after him, the second most exposed. The problem is that tomorrow the president of the club can become just as exposed if we let things happen without saying anything. For 4 or 5 years, we have seen that this phenomenon of violence against our educators is becoming more widespread and it is very dangerous, because they are the pillar of our amateur football.

What will happen this weekend if there is no match?

The Haute-Garonne district therefore announced that there would be no matches. The Occitanie Football League, for its part, has decided to support us by starting the weekend's senior football matches 15 minutes late throughout the Occitan territory. Then, in Haute-Garonne, we will organize a time in the clubs to discuss with parents, to explain the reasons for these match cancellations.

This action is strong, but will it be sufficient in your opinion?

We already know that no. We are here to, on our own scale, sow a seed and raise awareness of these extremely serious facts. Unfortunately, we also know that we will not solve everything with this action this weekend. We are going to give a charter to all educators, to all parents, so that it can be read with the children. It's a start, but it needs to be one.