From one island to another, there is only one step. Or more than 7,000 kilometers for the Black Devils of Combani, a club from Mayotte playing in Regional 1 (6th division), who had an appointment in Corsica to face Corte (N3) this Tuesday, November 19 (8 p.m.), for the account of the 8th round of the Coupe de France.
While all the other posters will compete over the weekend of November 30, Corte and Combani had to put on the warm-up blue again just three days after their 7th round in order to avoid the Mahorais having to travel again in two weeks. But the meeting will ultimately not take place this Tuesday evening, announced the US Corte club on its social networks, under the command of the FFF. A rare decision which comes just a few hours before the start of the 8th round, and which finds its source in the Black Devils match played on Saturday November 16.
“It’s very serious”
After their victory during the penalty shootout in the 7th round against Crépy-en-Valois (R3), the Oise club launched a procedure suspecting the Black Devils of falsifying medical certificates. A single doctor’s letter would have been photocopied for three different players, one of whom would have participated in the match on Saturday.
“Date, signature, everything is the same, explained the treasurer of US Crépy-en-Valois to Mayotte 1re . In the match, they deserved their victory […] But it’s cheating, it’s very serious.” “There are really serious doubts”had earlier confirmed to the channel the French Football Federation (FFF) whose FFF Regulations and Litigation Committee looked into the matter. Rachadi Said, the vice-president of the Black Devils, was surprised: “We do not understand this relentlessness, these are defamatory comments. It’s small of them. »
Immediately and pending the results of the commission, the FFF’s sentence in the case has not yet been handed down. In the event that the court decides quickly in favor of the Black Devils of Combani, the game could be played on Wednesday November 20 at the same time, while the Corsicans must play again on Sunday in the regional cup.
In the event that the FFF validates the “cheating” of the Mahorais, the Combani team would be declared losers in the 7th round on the green carpet, thus reinstating Crépy-en-Valois in the competition which would welcome the Corsicans on the weekend of the 30 November due to the three levels of division inferiority. The Mahorais club would also be exposed to heavy sanctions in terms of fines or even suspension for some of its leaders.
Already deprived of seven players in an irregular situation
A new series in the incredible adventure of the team since its arrival in France to compete in the Coupe de France. Despite the two-division gap in their favor on paper last Saturday, the reality was quite different. Seven Black Devils from Combani had been deprived of travel to mainland France due to an irregular situation. If these players are authorized to play in the local championship, the prefecture refused to issue them passes for the occasion.
Thus, it was with three U16 players, one U17 and three U18s that the Mayotte club presented itself in Crépy-en-Valois… And snatched, on penalties, the first qualification in its history for the eighth round . “We immediately think of the colleagues who stayed in Mayotte, it was all for them, reacted hotly the captain, Jolito, to the microphone of Mayotte 1 re who broadcast the match. It was a complicated match, because we had a lot of young people who were not used to playing this type of match, but we knew how to calm them down, get them into the match and play afterward. Our strong point is the mind. It was the psychological side and it worked. » A victory which allowed the players to let their joy explode, with a few people coming to support them.
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But while the Mayor had accompanied them to go to the island of beauty and the whole of Mayotte was waiting for the match at 10 p.m. (local time), the dream of the Cup was crumbling.
