Last May, a young 13-year-old player, Maagi Jessop, died.
It was during a walk in Futuna just before rugby training that the young player died in a drowning.
On Tuesday, the sixteen resigned from the FFR steering committee accused Florian Grill of having concealed this information.
The president of the territorial committee of Wallis and Futuna, Etuato Mulikihaamea spoke via The team.
He initially regrets that this sad affair was used for political recovery. Extract:
It bothered me a little that the story of little Maagi was found in this letter. I asked them not to engage in political co-opting with this drama, especially at the moment, in the middle of the FFR presidential campaign (ballot on October 19). I didn’t want to put all that back on the table too much because here (in Futuna), we have mourned. What I can say is that the family, the club, the entire Futuna rugby community expected something different from the federation, completely different support.
He confides more about this sad affair. Extract:
I don’t want to fuel a controversy but the person responsible for the outing, our CTC (club technical manager) in Futuna, Nisie Feleu, sent (on June 27) a fairly clear report on how the events unfolded. They were rugby kids, in an activity linked to rugby. We were hugely disappointed because we expected other attention to be given to this drama. We were waiting for a gesture from the parent company, even if only a wreath of flowers for the funeral.
People here have asked me if we are considered sublicensees. This is our second death of a rugby child on the island. The first was during the presidency of Bernard Laporte and the funeral costs were covered by the FFR. In general, the Albert-Ferrasse aid fund is activated, it could have been…
He admits to having made the mistake of not having alerted everyone. Extract:
Maybe that’s the mistake I made. I targeted my emails to a few people. I should have written to everyone.
To conclude, he explains why no accident report was made during the tragedy. Extract:
Even for the first death I spoke to you about, a kid who felt unwell on the field during the warm-up lap, I don’t believe there was an accident report. Here, it’s different from the metropolis. We have our customs. In mainland France, someone must be found at all costs, a head must roll. With us, it’s not like that. The family will not file a complaint. The police investigation will not yield much, there will be no follow-up. We mourned. The appeasement is there. Masses took place for Maagi, minutes of applause in our tournaments too.
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