A solution is emerging for the 300 juniors of Olympique de Genève (OG), this football club that the City expelled from its municipal facilities in Varembé, due to questionable accounting. Children’s and adolescent teams will be able to compete “under a neutral banner” (a bit like Russian athletes admitted to the Olympic Games) during the second round of the various championships, which begins in March. This sort of “Team Varembé”, independent of OG, would be managed by the City. This has appointed an external agent for this task.
Spokesperson for the Municipal Department of Security and Sports, Cédric Waelti confirms this “transitional” outcome until next summer, which was communicated to the club on Tuesday. We will cover administrative costs, referees and coaches. Juniors will thus be able to continue training on the same fields at the same times. Coaches who wish will be able to continue to take care of their teams. The challenge now is to warn all parents. “We are counting on the full collaboration of Olympique de Genève to promote this transfer; and we invite parents to contact our sports department.”
The president of the Geneva cantonal football association (ACGF), Pascal Chobaz, indicates that in fact, the body agrees to register the current OG junior teams in its regional championships and under a neutral banner. “I am unaware of the substance of the dispute between the club and the City and have never had access to the documents in the file. I don’t have to comment. That said, we are trying to help both parties find a solution that preserves the interests of all young people.”
Olympique de Genève, on the other hand, does not want to hear about such an option. “Neither I nor the committee have discussed it with the City,” explains its president, Khalid Chagna. There is no question of entering into the matter before the courts have ruled. The Municipality knows our lawyer, all they have to do is contact him.” The club is in fact contesting before the Administrative Chamber the withdrawal of the subsidy in kind which was until then allocated to it – in other words the use of the municipal stadium of Varembé, valued at 80,000 francs.
The reaction of the club’s lawyer
The club’s lawyer, Me Romain Jordan, reacted as follows: “The club has appealed and continues its activities. The City has also suspended its operations aimed at recovering the material. The actions of the lawyer paid by the City (editor’s note: the external agent) are made without a mandate and even though the decision is not enforceable. This desire to impose a decision that is nevertheless contested, at all costs, is surprising.”
