“There was a mistake”: the family of missing rugby player Medhi Narjissi points to the FFR’s responsibility

2024-08-27 15:12:20

They broke the silence. Valérie and Jalil Narjissi, the parents of Mehdi, the young rugby player who disappeared on August 7 in South Africa, testified for the first time on Tuesday. au blog de TF1who said that the “mistake” was made by the staff of the French U18 rugby team.

“We are not alive, we survive,” said his mother, Valérie Narjissi, in a weak voice. “There are no words… This is the horror we are experiencing. Our son left for what he loved the most, and today we have nothing left,” added the young man’s father, very happy.

Their son, Mehdi, 17, went on tour to South Africa in August with the French U18 rugby team. He was swept away by strong currents while participating in a recovery session on Dias Beach, near the Cape of Good Hope. His body has been untraceable since, despite the mobilization of important resources.

The French Rugby Union (FFR) then recognized that the session in which he participated “presented risks” due to the conditions that prevailed that day. He also temporarily suspended members of the U18 staff “pending the final conclusions of an internal investigation”.

The prosecutor agreed

Mehdi Narjissi’s parents said they were convinced a “mistake” had been made by the youth’s supervision. “We entrusted our son to them, he never came back. Because there was a mistake,” the young mother protested on TF1. “Given the circumstances, what we saw, I don’t even understand how this mistake could happen,” he added.

The family of the young rugby player contacted the public prosecutor’s office in Agen on Wednesday with the intention of accepting the opening of a process to “find the reasons for the loss”, announced their lawyer. The latter, Me Édouard Martial, said that he wanted to hear from the President of the FFR, as well as “the whole team of the French U18 team, and in particular the players in the water”.

“We already know that a mistake has been made, that is to say that we should not have allowed young players, young people to recover on this beach where, that day, the waves of three to four meters come, the water is very cold, and above all, we consider it very dangerous,” he criticized.