2023-12-20 11:07:36
The owner of Angers SCO, Saïd Chabane, during a match between Angers and Clermont in Angers, January 15, 2023. SEBASTIEN SALOM-GOMIS / AFP
On the brown plastic chair designated for him by the president of the court, Saïd Chabane (59 years old), impeccable suit, remains stoic. This stiff and intransigent man, who requires his 800 employees to stand up when he enters a room, is not used to this kind of treatment. He listens to the accusations aimed at him with his back straight, one hand placed on his chin and two fingers stretched out to his cheek.
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In total, seven victims filed a complaint against him, five became civil parties for this trial, Monday December 18 and Tuesday December 19, before the Angers criminal court. During the hearings conducted by the police, at least eleven other women recounted facts which could have been criminal charges. Some were too old, and therefore prescribed. Other victims did not want to file a complaint.
Those who testify describe the same facts, or almost. Hugs and kisses imposed in the shadows of an office, behind a door or on the leather seat of a sedan. Arms that embrace and hands that linger on the buttocks or the chest. A finger or tongue in the mouth. Caresses never consented to, forced gestures.
The facts denounced by his accusers, the owner of Angers SCO (he left the presidency to his son Romain last March) and of the Cosnelle charcuterie group, based in Sarthe, rejects them all. To the insistent questions of the president of the court, Catherine Ménardais, he replied, almost impassively: “It’s not possible, it’s not me. I was raised in a family with values and rigor. I don’t need to do this.”.
Complainants relieved to finally be listened to
He adds, regarding the first to have denounced his behavior: “I’m not saying she’s a liar, I’m saying the facts didn’t happen”. This will be his line of defense throughout this trial. He doesn’t recognize anything, not even a small kiss on the forehead or fingers running through his hair. Even less the hands that he would grab and forcefully place on his torso or his erect crotch.
Faced with his silences, his accusers are precise, loquacious, relieved to finally be listened to. “I filed a complaint to prevent other people from being subjected to his intolerable behavior”says Léa [tous les prénoms des plaignantes ont été changés]former employee of Angers SCO, attacked during a company seminar in Madrid in November 2019. “The question of consent never arose for him. He’s a man you don’t say no to. I was really hesitant to file a complaint.relates this 28-year-old woman. I was without work for 400 days, lost my home and gave up on my professional future. It’s a small world in football. And I am the one who spoke”.
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