Ouaddou Climbs into the Stands to Fight Racism, and Gets Booked
By: Laurie | February 19th, 2008
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote that my trip to Metz last September had been my “most memorable soccer experience.”
After the Valenciennes game at Metz this past weekend, Valenciennes captain Abdeslam Ouaddou might agree with me, but for an entirely different reason.
Ouaddou got so fed up with the racist abuse coming from the stands that he charged up there himself to deal with the guilty party.
The Morocco international, who previously played for Fulham, told the referee to stop the match and to order a colleague to calm the Metz fan, when he was abusing the VA ace on Saturday night.
The man in black refused to listen to the player and saw him trying to enter the stands at half time. The security staff blocked Ouaddou and he was even booked for his attempt.
But the fan was later arrested and turned over to the police, and he was eventually charged with “public racist insult”. Ouaddou has now filed suit through the players’ union and is complaining publicly about his treatment by the referees.
What’s bizarre here is that the Metz team is French. A Ligue 1 team. So it’s not as if they’re all white. (Team photo here.) Does this same fan racially abuse his own players? Bizarre.
Also at the same game,
two Metz-supporting brothers aged 21 and 26 were sentenced to nine months in prison after a nine-year-old girl, sitting next to the window, suffered serious head injuries when they threw stones at a Valenciennes supporters bus after Metz’s 2-1 victory on Saturday. Both were also banned from the stadium for five years.
When I was at the game in Metz, I found it striking that almost every supporter was an adult male. Hardly any females and very few children. At the time I was wondering why. I’m thinking this probably explains it.
And the weirdest part of this? This was the first game Metz has won at home all year.
Don’t win any more, Metz. It seems to be a very, very bad thing for your team.
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