On the night of Saturday November 30 to Sunday December 1, the Thèze Rugby club, in Béarn, was the victim of an arson attack. This is the third time in a month that the Béarnais club has been targeted. An escalation of violence which distresses the club leaders and their players.
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All that remains is a charred metal carcass. This is the spectacle attended, this Sunday, December 1, by the players and staff of the Thèze rugby club. The van belongs to the club's co-president, Serge Lanouilh.
After stealing it a few hours earlier from his home, the perpetrators then put it in the club's locker room, before setting it on fire. “They set fire to the seats, and then everything spread,” explains Jean-Charles Dupin, co-president of the Avant Garde of Thèze Rugby.
The co-president's van is completely burned.
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© France 3 Aquitaine
Nothing remains of the locker rooms. Gathered to support each other, the rugby players of the Béarnais club look sad and haggard. “They are dejected. Some people broke down when they saw the locker rooms this morning. They are used to their place: they kept saying that all their memories for years had disappeared,” relates Vincent Chabbert, one of the coaches of the Regional 3 club.
It's a very painful sight.
Vincent Chabbert,AG Thèze forwards coach
In the fire, the storage room where drinks were kept was also affected. “Nothing is stable, everything will have to be razed. Between administration, insurance, obtaining reimbursement and the permit to rebuild something, it will take a very long time,” Jean-Charles Dupin projects.
In the locker room, several players broke down in the face of the spectacle of desolation.
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© France 3 Aquitaine
Although it is shocking in its violence, the fire also represents a new stage in a series of malicious acts which have hit the club for several weeks. It all starts on November 20. During training, the coaches discovered that the electrical cables used to power the lighting poles had been cut. “At that moment, we said to ourselves that they were local young people. We had already seen similar cases in the region,” indicates the co-president of the AG Thèze.
But already, seven days later, the pressure is increasing: their premises, now burnt down, are visited. Inside, the criminals stole, among other things, a set of jerseys and the pharmacy. “We went from astonishment to irritation at that moment. It really embarrassed us,” recognizes Jean-Charles Dupin.
We feel powerless and small, we become afraid because it is gratuitous violence and this escalation, we wonder how far it can go.
Jean-Charles Dupin,Co-president of the AG Thèze
It will take several months before the premises are operational again.
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© France 3 Aquitaine
Who could want that much from the club? And why? Everyone asks these questions, without getting an answer. Rival clubs, impossible. “They gave us their support and even offered their equipment, twice a week, so that we could continue trainingsays the co-president. We have total confidence in them.”
A resentment, a settling of scores? “We ask ourselves lots of questions: who could we have offended or dismissed? We have a particular problem with anyone”he searches. Questions that also swirl in the heads and discussions of players, with always only one answer: a helpless “I don’t know”.
This time, the case takes a legal turn. Three complaints were filed by the municipality, the club as well as the co-president, a victim of theft. The investigation was entrusted to the gendarmerie. “They will launch broad investigations at the village level, because it seems that the perpetrators have perfect knowledge of the places and peopleexplains the co-president. They will also hear testimonies from people who saw cars driving around 11 p.m. to 11:30 p.m..”
An investigation was opened to find the perpetrators of the fire.
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© France 3 Aquitaine
After the reduction, the club promises not to let itself sink. “We will first try to dispassionate all that, to relieve the pressure. We are going to enter into a logic of solutions to go and train”, assures Jean-Charles Dupin.
We must continue even if we do not achieve our sporting objectives, so that there are children who continue to play rugby in this field.
Jean-Charles Dupin,Co-president of the AG Thèze
Next Sunday, the club hopes to face, as planned, that of Pomarez. “There is no question of letting the club down. We will show strength and solidarity and we will give everything”insists Vincent Chabbert, one of the club's coaches. They must organize a meeting with the Aquitaine rugby league to consider the next matches and make this season one of revenge.
