the essential
Jalil Narjissi speaks this Wednesday, September 18, more than a month after the tragedy that affected his family. Between immense sadness and anger.
He is a father who is still devastated, expressing his unfathomable sadness but also his anger. This Wednesday, September 18, the daily The Team publishes a long interview with Jalil Narjissi, father of Medhi, who tragically disappeared at sea during a tour of South Africa with the French under-18 XV. Medhi was 17 years old, and was a hopeful at the Stade Toulousain training center.
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Disappearance of Medhi Narjissi: “We will never accept it…” The distress and anger of the young player’s father, “ready to fight for the truth”
With his wife Valérie, Jalil Narjissi has started legal proceedings, filing a complaint in Agen. To find out. To find the culprits. Among them, possibly, the French Rugby Federation. An institution towards which the former emblematic hooker of the SUA harbors a deep anger. “Of course I blame them. I hear their excuses, but nothing has been done properly, and this, contrary to what some leaders say” he asserts to our colleagues. “It takes the disappearance of my son to restore order and rules, but also competent people. We are the ones who are torn apart and devastated and who no longer sleep. I would have had a different speech towards the leaders of the Federation if they had put everything in place for support. Apart from the plane tickets (for the Narjissi family’s trip), they have done nothing at all. They cannot hide. Florian Grill (the president of the FFR, Editor’s note), like the others, will have to take responsibility.”
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VIDEO. Death of Medhi Narjissi: the poignant tribute paid by Stade Toulousain and Ernest-Wallon before the reception of La Rochelle
And Jalil Narjissi took the opportunity to thank Stade Toulousain. “Stade Toulousain was there before, during and after, really like a family. The Federation, even if there were apologies, was non-existent before reappearing twenty-one days later. The FFR leaders had a chance to come back when we returned from South Africa, but there was no one from the Federation in Blagnac. Only Stade Toulousain.”
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Death of Medhi Narjissi: “It was very hard during the off-season”, François Cros discusses the importance of the tributes planned for this Sunday
On Sunday, September 15, before the kick-off of the match between the “red and black” and La Rochelle, a tribute to Medhi Narjissi was organized, bringing together his family as well as former teammates and coaches in front of the 19,000 spectators at Ernest-Wallon. “This tribute showed us once again that Medhi brightened people up. We felt he was there with us,” Jalil Narjissi recalls in tears. “We couldn’t stay for the match. It was too difficult. We went home. I thank Stade Toulousain for this tribute. Unfortunately, reality quickly returns. The emptiness, the lack.”
