2023-06-10 13:45:05
Sporting director Helder Esteves laid off, coach Stéphane Masala on departure and players who took part in a protest action on Wednesday during partners’ day… Créteil has had a very turbulent week.
On the pitch, this season already sounded like a small failure. Relegated from National, Créteil only finished 5th in group B of National 2, very far (15 points) from Épinal. “The success was not there despite a very significant financial investment and operating costs”, regrets President Bassam Al Homsi, who succeeded Armand Lopes in June 2022.
With according to our information, 21 federal contracts, 51,706 euros in monthly payroll and five players at more than 3,500 euros, Créteil, had indeed put the means this season. Sixteen players who had signed for two years are under contract until 2024 and Ibrahima Seck, until 2025.
But Bassam Al Homsi, an entrepreneur who runs around twenty companies, wants to “reduce the airfoil” for his football club. “At some point, you have to be reasonable and anticipate things,” he explains. We have to modify the project along the way. We can no longer pay as much for the players we are going to recruit. But that’s not why we won’t be ambitious. »
This change in policy would be the starting point of the disagreement between the majority shareholder of Créteil (60%) and Helder Esteves, in charge of recruitment. After a stormy final meeting, he was laid off on Wednesday. Arrived last summer, coach Stéphane Masala, finalist of the Coupe de France 2018 with the Herbiers against PSG, and who still had a year of contract, will also leave.
Regarding the action of the players during the day of the partners, the president pleads “a misunderstanding”. “At the start, I was informed that they did not want to leave the locker room. So I went down to see them and we talked. Some wanted answers about their future. But they don’t have to worry. We will meet those at the end of the contract and for the others under contract, like Seck or Araujo, we will respect our commitments. After our dialogue, everything is back to normal. They went out, they played and they were able to meet the partners during the buffet at the clubhouse. Honestly, there is no fire at the lake. »
President sweeps away rumors of interference
However in Créteil, some evoke a presidential desire to impose his son Adrien, reserve midfielder (Regional 1), at the club for three years, and who played 13 minutes in N2 during the last match of the season last Saturday. against Haguenau (0-1). Rumors of interference that Bassam Al Homsi sweeps away vigorously.
“There is a list of three or four young people from the reserve who will go up to N2, Adrien is not the only one, he explains. It’s normal for a club like Créteil to rely on its young people. We have 1,300 licensees, our desire is to promote young people from the city and Val-de-Marne, rather than going to recruit elsewhere. We have a big pool in Île-de-France, we have to use it. »
After the internal storm of recent days, the leaders of Créteil have already made good progress on the identity of their new coach. He should be named in the next few hours.
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