Against a backdrop of accusations of racism on one side and misogyny on the other, a U14 match does not go to its conclusion in Gard

At the request of FC Petit Bard, the referee stopped the match at half-time. MAXPPP – Nicolas VALLAURI

The match between the youngsters of Beaucaire and those of Petit Bard Montpellier was stopped at half-time last Saturday. The Hérault club explains that its young players had suffered racist insults from adults. The Gard club denies it and counterattacks.

Another dark story from which football will not emerge stronger. This Saturday, September 28, the U14s of Stade Beaucairois hosted those of FC Petit Bard Montpellier as part of the Regional 1 championship at the Lamouroux sports complex in Beaucaire.

At half-time, the Hérault club's coaches refused to resume the game. According to them, their players under the age of 14 were victims of racist insults from adults on the edge of the pitch. “Our leaders reacted calmly and decided to call the police to guarantee their safety and warned the referee not to continue the match,” explained FC Petit Bard in a press release published on the club's Facebook page on Sunday. […] Our young people were very shocked by the racist remarks they reported to us. The club does not tolerate violence, racist insults, or attempts to intimidate anyone."

FC Petit Bard announced that it had filed a complaint: "Parents insulted our players and our managers as "dirty Arabs", confirms Abdelaziz Ouaissa, president of FC Petit Bard who was not on site at the time of the match. We obviously condemn these remarks, it is not normal to get to this point in a football stadium. The little ones are shocked, it's the first time this has happened to them.”

“There were no racist insults”

On the Gard side, the version is completely different. According to Xavier Mouret, the president of Stade Beaucairois who was also not present, these accusations are totally false: “I had feedback from my coaches and the security manager on site. There were no racist insults. Our team was leading 3 goals to 0 when a parent of an FC Petit Bard player shouted at a woman, the mother of a player: “You have no business being here, go to your kitchen.” At half-time, they refused to resume the match, claiming racist remarks. Their leaders called the police, telling them about a fight in progress, when it was absolutely not true. It was a big sketch, we don't understand their attitude. It gives a catastrophic image of football. When you know the Stade Beaucairois, it's ridiculous, we never stop carrying out social actions, prevention actions, we act on employment, on the training of young people, we do work on the prevention of this kind of incivility. They completely made these accusations against the wrong club."

For its part, the Occitanie Football League, which has taken up the case, has refused to comment on the affair for the moment.