MAINTENANCE – In his biography entitled “Balls in the center”, the former striker of the Blues Tony Vairelles looks back on the case which occurred eleven years ago, and the consequences which transformed his life “in hell”.
Ten short minutes late, the time to return and settle in his house in Bordeaux, where he lives with his wife and two sons. A timing that contrasts with that which installed him among the best French attackers at the end of the 1990s. Tony Vairelles, who made the heyday of Nancy, Lens and Lyon, among others, spent more than an hour to tell us, by videoconference, the underside of his biography, “Balls in the center(Hugo Sport), released this Wednesday, June 2. The clear voice, the still refined and imposing silhouette (1.86m), the dark brown, who has abandoned his blond mane from when he was a player, forgets nothing of the past decade. Or that night in October 2011, where the life of the ex-Blue changed.
A dark altercation involved him, three of his brothers and three bouncers from a nightclub in Essey-lès-Nancy. Shots were fired. By Tony Vairelles? He and his brothers were found guilty of violence with a weapon on May 16, 2022, after an interminable investigation. Tony and his big brother Fabrice were sentenced to 5 years in prison, including three firm. The two youngest, Giovan and Jimmy, 3 years old, one of which is firm. They appealed the decision, which will not be reviewed until 2023.
A book “to tell yourself that quarrels in the family are useless”
This book, Tony Vairelles did not write it to proclaim his innocence. “I didn’t want to take it out before I was judged, he defends himself. Because I didn’t want this book to be able to have an influence, or that people could even say that I wanted to clear myself by writing a book so that people would cry in the cottages and say “oh poor thing”. No. I waited. My book has been ready for over a year.»
Writing these pages, with the help of journalist Romain Jacquot, has “does a lot of good». «If this book can help a few people to find their way around, to tell themselves that quarrels in the family are useless and that it’s sadness for everyone, then it will have been useful for something and I will be proud of mesmiles Tony Vairelles. Like the altruistic player he was, “more in the gift of the pass than in the dribble for nothing».
Prison, failed marriage and the death of his stepmother
The native of Nancy had spent 5 months in pre-trial detention, from October 2011 to March 2012. But the worst, “it’s the collateral damage, the trauma for the whole family“, he points out. The years that followed his time in the Metz-Queuleu penitentiary center tore his family apart. The gap has widened between his partner, Audrey, and his family, his “FC Vairelles“, he who moved with his parents and his little brothers with each change of club. In June 2013, to resolder the links, he organized his marriage with Audrey. Complete fiasco. Resentments come to light. Tony Vairelles will not speak to his parents for years.
Years of hardship, of suffering. For him and for Audrey, marked by the death of her mother. After an attempted hanging,Granny Pascaleis taken to the hospital. The next day, she is found again hanging from the handle of the toilet reserved for the disabled. Even though “the trace around his neck does not resemble what one sees in a person who hanged himself, writes Tony Vairelles. I know what I’m talking about unfortunately, since during my stay in prison, an inmate tried to hang himself and I saw him afterwards.»
The guilt of notoriety
Nine months in a coma later, she died on April 29, 2015. Audrey plunged into depression. His physical condition is deteriorating. She goes through stays in nursing homes. His couple with Tony Vairelles suffers from it. “Since then there have been improvements, but the game is not won“Writes the former player, who had the pain of losing his father Guy Vairelles, had whom he maintained a”fusional relationshipon January 31.
For him and his loved ones, these ten years are also tinged with guilt. “Surehe thinks back to that night from October 22 to 23, 2011. By remaking the film, he and his brothers can imagine a million different decisions and scenarios, to avoid ending up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Above all, Tony Vairelles regrets that the case had such an echo “dueof his notoriety, from which he benefited throughout his career. “My brothers never benefited from this notoriety“, he opposes.
The mind to move mountains
To overcome these hardships, the man revealed to AS Nancy-Lorraine drew on his mental strength as a former footballer. In prison, hebuild a bubble“imagining”during pre-season preparation“. A painful but necessary passage before treading the lawns every weekend. His resilience is partly what led him to be champion of France with Lens in 1998 (“the RC Lens will always remain in my heart“) and to honor 8 selections with the France team, alongside Zidane, Thuram, Barthez or Deschamps.
«Between a good National player and an average Ligue 1 player, I don’t think there’s a huge difference. I think it’s all abouthe said, putting his finger to his temple. On the road to rehabilitation, Vairelles received a lot of support. Others quickly distanced themselves. And will continue, after the condemnation. “They are skeptical. Deep inside I can understand them“, he forgives.
His son rebuilt himself thanks to rugby
So Tony Vairelles cashes in. And move on, despite a perpetual sense of injustice. “I had this certainty that we do not put people in prison for nothingrelate-t-il. Deep down, I told myself that justice was well done.“He was staying behind bars when his son, Guydjo, celebrated his 7th birthday. At this time, the boy is depressed without his father and is gaining weight. He believes him to be dead. It will take time for him to rebuild… through rugby. Today, he is 17, has joined the ranks of the Union Bordeaux Bègles and “is fine, even very wellaccording to his father.
I feel that my life is getting back on track, I don’t want it to get out of hand. This call, it will come when it comes.
Tony Vairelles
Dad is doing better. “None of my 3 brothers and I went to therapy, he breathes. Maybe it will be done one day because we will feel the need. Me, my therapy, I was able to do it because I said everything I had to say in this book.A catharsis, to reconnect with life. “The little time I have left to live, I hope a couple of years anyway, I want to be happy with my family, to be fulfilled“, hopes the soon to be fifty-something (49 years old), who depends on his judicious investments thanks to the money amassed in his career.
The appeal of his conviction, he thinks about it. He is “obliged to think about it, because there are serious consequences behind». «But I try to relativize, weights Tony Vairelles. I feel like my life is getting back on track, I don’t want it to go off the rails again. This call, it will come when it comes. If I was able to put a maximum of things on my side so that everything was settled, at least I know that my family will be fine.»
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