Ajaccio-Sochaux incidents: the CEO of Sochaux mentions "a hostage-taking"

He couldn't stay silent.

Not to give his version of the facts, his truth, on the serious incidents which took place Saturday evening, after the defeat of his team in Ajaccio (1-0) during the 7th day of Ligue 2. On the occasion of an interview he gave to the newspaper L'Équipe on Monday afternoon, Samuel Laurent, general manager of FC Sochaux, returned to the clashes that broke out in the parking lot of the François-Coty stadium between one of his players (Christophe Diedhiou , who spent the night from Sunday to Monday in police custody) and a Corsican steward (Alain Albano) who had his nose broken and lodged a complaint.

If he condemns the punch delivered by his player, he wants to put the context back.

He explains in particular that Diedhiou and his partner Hermann Tebily were beaten - they also lodged a complaint - and that they reacted with "self-defense".

AC Ajaccio: the victory wasted, an Ajaccian steward attacked @ACAjacciohttps: //t.co/12saVstB5E

- France Bleu RCFM (@FranceBleuRCFM) September 12, 2021

Above all, the manager has strong words to tell the deleterious atmosphere that reigns at that time in the parking lot.

He speaks of "kidnapping by people who were not custodians of public authority".

“It was a hostage-taking, you have to call things as they are, insists Samuel Laurent in the interview.

There were about 40 people around the bus who were not ACA supporters.

There were two people among them with yellow vests but all the others were in civilian clothes, with an accreditation: they were therefore people from the club.

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"Security personnel behaved like thugs"

For more than an hour, the Sochaux delegation remains blocked, in the shelter, in the bus in the face of insults and aggressive gestures. “As soon as one of our players glanced outside the bus, he saw people saying to them:

. Some waved their hands that they were going to slit our throats. My team was in danger… You know, this is the first time I came to play for AC Ajaccio. I discovered a club where the security personnel behaved like thugs. I don't want us to go back, I don't want the players to be in danger again. "

This is not the first time that the Corsican club is concerned by this kind of events. In 2018, the Havre players' bus was greeted in Ajaccio by throwing stones, smoke and homemade bombs around the stadium. The version of the Sochaux leader therefore differs from that given by the Corsican president in the columns of L'Équipe this Monday morning. It will now be up to justice to express itself.