"I called Mohamed Haouas when he got out of prison. I listened to him and then told him that he would not be selected for the World Cup. He replied that he understood and apologized to the players and staff. Fabien Galthié, the coach of the Blues who had organized a press conference this Tuesday noon in Marcoussis (Essonne) to discuss the first three-day training camp bringing together 27 players not involved in the semi-finals of the Top 14 for the preparation of the World Cup in France (September 8 - October 28), did not wish to say much more.
The 29-year-old right pillar, sentenced Tuesday, May 30 to one year of convertible imprisonment, without a warrant of committal, for domestic violence, captured by a surveillance camera of a shopping center in Montpellier, will not be part of the list, on June 21, of the 42 Tricolores called for the preparation of the competition, as suggested by the statement of the French Federation as soon as the verdict was announced, judging his behavior "inadmissible and incompatible with the representation of our nation at the international level".
The Clermont club, which the player was to join on July 1 for three seasons, had also indicated in the wake that Mohamed Haouas would not wear his jersey.
Fabien Galthié said he did not project himself further. "He won't make the World Cup," he said. I didn't poll my players (the leaders of the XV of France) but I talked a lot with them. I can only say that this is not good news for him or for us. Until then, the coach had supported Mohamed Haouas (16 caps), guilty of deviations in his youth spent in a difficult district of Montpellier. He had already been sentenced in February 2022 to 18 months in prison suspended, for burglaries of tobacco shops in Montpellier, in 2014.
And on May 12, during a second trial, for his participation in a violent fight on January 1, 2014, the prosecution had requested a two-year suspended sentence. The deliberations in this case are expected on June 30. Galthié had also maintained it despite a sometimes violent behavior on the ground. Ruled out against Scotland in February, during the Six Nations Tournament for a head-high clearance, after a first red card received against the same team in 2020 for a punch. "I have only one desire, it is to encourage him, to protect him," said the coach during the last Tournament.
