This is a damning report for the French U18 team’s supervisors. The French Rugby Federation announced on Thursday the conclusions of its internal investigation, opened a few hours after the disappearance of Medhi Narjissi on August 7. The young Stade Toulousain player was traveling to South Africa to play the International Series with the French men’s under-18 team. He was swept away by the ocean while he was doing a recovery session with his teammates on Dias Beach. His body has still not been found.
“The decision to organise a session in the water on Dias Beach was taken without considering the dangerousness of the site” and “once on site, the warning signs on the dangerousness of the site were not taken into account, which seems particularly questionable in view of the dramatic consequences that resulted”, the federation points out in a press release delivering the conclusions of its internal investigation carried out in South Africa and France after the delegation’s return.
The risks could have been perceived “before the session”
All members of the staff present on site as well as some players were heard. The FFR also reveals that “the risks linked to Dias Beach could have been perceived by at least one technical sports advisor, before the session”, without leading to its cancellation, and “questions whether an attempt to rescue Medhi Narjissi using the lifebuoy available could have been considered or whether the members of the management could have directly undertaken any rescue action”. If this is not the case, “this circumstance seems to confirm that the conditions at sea were particularly dangerous”, the body asserts.
The French Rugby Federation also indicated that it will request the Ministry of Sports “to terminate, without notice, the assignments to it of the technical sports advisors in charge during this trip” and over whom the ministry exercises hierarchical and disciplinary power. It also assures that it will take measures against the other members of the staff, “whatever their status”, and that analyses and reflections will be carried out – some jointly with the Ministry of Sports – to prevent such a tragedy from happening again (supervision conditions, designation of staff, control of emergency procedures, etc.).
“You don’t need to be a graduate to see the danger of this place. There were twelve of them in the staff who supported this, who didn’t intervene…”, Medhi Narjissi’s father had lamented on RMC Sport. Since the start of the season, several tributes have been paid to the 17-year-old from Toulouse.
- RMC Sport
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