Leaks, mold. This is the state of this football locker room. But no, it is not that of a modest amateur club. These photos were taken at the Bastide training center, home of the professional footballers of Nîmes Olympique, which plays in Ligue 2. While the president of Nîmes Olympique, Rani Assaf, is more looking to the future than ever with a project for a new stadium, pending the training conditions for his players leave something to be desired. As evidenced by these photos published on social networks by Modrek, independent supporter and great faithful of the Crocs, the interview leaves much to be desired.
These photos are published while the climate has been tense around the club for several months: tension with the supporters, tensions around the training center, disappointing sporting results, or even a tarnished image after French Cup matches where Nîmes Olympique did not. has not left its share of the revenue to its amateur opponents. Modrek confides this Monday on France Bleu Gard Lozère all his dismay: “it testifies to the carelessness quite simply: an abandoned cloakroom. We don’t even have the impression that the pros work in this kind of room: a pro locker room at the Bastide, a training center, it’s still quite shameful for a professional club in the second division, I remind you. Leaks, mold, and then it has been going on for three months. And the players can’t take it anymore. Everyone denounces the fact that there is a problem in this club and nobody is doing anything. So the president totally lets it happen. And there are several people, several sources who send me things every day (Editor’s note: photos) because in fact, they are simply looking for help. The people they trust the most are the supporters. But there, today, to see this kind of thing, it is clear that it is cold in the back. Frankly, I would like not to be there and not talk about it with you today because I would like Nîmes Olympique to go well.“ Another supporter of Nîmes Olympique sent a mirror to Rani Assaf so that he “looks himself in the face“
“At the start yes, like everyone else, I had nothing against the president and he has, in quotes, saved this club “, underlines Modrek, recalling in which situation Rani Assaf bought the club. From 1994, the businessman, who is also one of the creators of the Freebox, is a shareholder in Olympic Nîmes. The following season, he takes full control and becomes chairman-shareholder, to succeed Jean-Marc Conrad, who resigned after his indictment in the case of Ligue 2 matches allegedly rigged. “So yes, frankly, we have lived three seasons in Ligue 1, but since 2019, it’s been a disaster: departures of players, a training center that loses approval, total contempt for the supporters. And today, now _photos like that, players who can’t take it anymore. The situation is very, very serious_. But hey, today, we see that he does nothing to make it better, in fact. ”
“When we see that there are a thousand people at Costières in Ligue 2, it’s still incredible. In National, we were around 2,500 to 3,000 people. Here we are in Ligue 2 with a great team on paper, and today, to be 1000 spectators at the stadium, it means that there is a problem. There is a problem. (… (…) Even internally, nobody can discuss with Rani Assaf , otherwise he takes the door. ”Modrek
The Nîmes Olympique is currently twelfth in the championship Ligue 2 (23 points), and already eliminated from the Coupe de France (beaten in 32nd in Toulouse, 4-1). The Crocs play again on January 8 in Dijon, on behalf of the twentieth day of the championship.
In mid-December, in the face of discontent and in the desire to make a gesture towards the supporters, the club had conceded a drop in part of its prices at Costières. To try to increase the attendance at the stadium.
“We will not let go, insists Modrek. And then, all the people who like the club a little bit (…) will continue to denounce everything that is happening. Out of love for the club, out of love for the supporters. (..) everyone is fed up“
– Modrek
– Modrek