It’s an incredible story brought to light in the world of football. Ill-intentioned people who use the image of a sick child to collect shirts from football players and clubs. It was the club of Bourg-en-Bresse (National) which revealed this trickery, Wednesday, May 18, via its communication manager.
Several Stade Lavallois players targeted
This season, Stade Lavallois has received many requests of this type. Emails to get a jersey for a child with heart problems, for example. Players were also recipients such as defender Yasser Baldé and goalkeeper Alexis Sauvage. The latter tells France Bleu Mayenne: “I was asked through a photo with a child who seemed affected by an illness or handicapped, to send a jersey or a pair of gloves, something that could make the child happy. At the beginning, we say to ourselves ‘it can happen, why not?’ But, I realized that the message was often the same, down to the comma. So it’s quite disturbing. There is simply the first name or the name of the child which changed or the name of the recipient, and it was not the same email address each time.“
A widespread practice that revolts Alexis Sauvage: “I’m disgusted to see this! This must not happen. You shouldn’t use a child’s misfortune to ask for a football shirt. Well, that disgusts me. Trying to scare or pity people drives me crazy.“
At Stade Lavallois, no case of scam has been recorded to date.