The French Prosecutor’s Office hopes to quickly identify the three or four people who he estimates attacked Kenzo, an eight-year-old follower of Olympique de Marseille (OM), with brain cancerand his family, during the altercations of the match that this team played against Ajaccio.
“The investigation is in its beginnings,” said Nicolas Septe, the prosecutor in Ajaccio, on the island of Corsica, in statements to French television.
Septe stressed that the priority is to take a statement from both the parents and the child, as well as the witnesses who were around during the attack, to later analyze security camera footagewhich will allow attackers to be “quickly” identified.
International repudiation for Barrabrava’s aggression against a child with cancer
Kenzo traveled to Corsica with his mother and father from Roquefort-la-Bédoule (south-eastern France), invited by the airline Air Corsica and by the Rotary Club association, to fulfill his dream of watching his soccer team playOlympique de Marseille, in the last round of the 2022-2023 French league.
The family was surprised by a group of Ajaccio supporters, who attacked them when they saw the boy wearing an opposing team’s shirt.
According to the mother’s account, they punched her husband twice and they pushed Kenzo, whose shirt was ripped off and burned.
(You can read: James Rodríguez reacts after not being called up to the Colombian National Team for friendlies).
💬 “Ils ont pris mon maillot et ils l’ont brûlé”
Kenzo, 8-year-old supporter from Marseillais and agressé lors du match Ajaccio-OM, témoigne pic.twitter.com/PdnEU7QOPz
— BFM Marseille Provence (@BFMMarseille) June 5, 2023
The public prosecutor described the facts as “relatively serious infractions”, given that the attacks that occur inside the stadiums are punished more severely than those that occur outside.
Septe assured that the investigation is progressing “quite quickly” and that it was Ajaccio fans who broke into the box to which the family had been invited by charitable associations.
After the events on Saturday, Ajaccio published a statement, under the title “Vergogna” (shame in privateering), in which it showed its support for the family and condemned “with the greatest firmness” the assault on the minor.
“Not even the most extreme stupidity can excuse these behaviors”the club said in the statement.
Kenzo is a child fan of Olympique de Marseille who has a brain tumor.
They invited him to see OM – Ajaccio, so that he can see his club before losing his sight. But the Ajaccio fans beat him up and stole his shirt. Then they burned it and beat his father. pic.twitter.com/a6o9eDMubG
— Valentin Torres Erwerle ✍️🎙️ (@TorresErwerle) June 4, 2023
The President of France speaks out for the outrageous attack on Kenzo
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday called for the “clearest” and “strongest” sanctions against Kenzo’s attackers.
“This shows a kind of drift and we are right not to get used to it,” he told reporters during a visit to Mont Saint-Michel (west), expressing his support for Kenzo, “a loyal fan.”
This Monday, the French Sports Minister, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, expressed her support for the family, victim of “absolutely intolerable violence”, and assured that she was going to try to contact Kenzo
“The reaction of the Ajaccio club has been good in denouncing the horror of this gesture,” said the minister, who considered the facts “inadmissible.”
“This must be separated very, very far from us and very far from sport,” he concluded. Septe insisted on the willingness of the Prosecutor’s Office to work quickly on the case to “sanction the behavior of these fans to the fair extent.”
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*With EFE and AFP
#Outrage #football #aggression #Barrabrava #child #brain #cancer