On Sunday February 6, in Saint-Romans (near Saint Marcellin), the 4th district division match between the AS Fontaine first team and the US-Ro Claix reserve turned tragic. At the very end of the game, a general fight broke out, and one of the Fontaine players, armed with a knife, seriously injured one of the US-Ro leaders in the face. This one was seen asking thirty points of stitches and will keep a scar for life.
Two months after the events, the sanctions of the district of Isère fell against AS Fontaine, and they are heavy:
- Twenty-year suspension for stabbing player
- Two to seven game suspension for the other seven players involved in the fight
- General package, for the rest of the season, imposed on the AS Fontaine senior team
- Prohibition for AS Fontaine to present a senior team next season
- Fines for the club: 1000 euros, in addition to 200 euros for the package, and 50 euros for each sanctioned player
Penalties accepted by Fontaine, not heavy enough according to US-Ro Claix
Sanctions accepted by the Fontaine club, joined by France Bleu Isère. “We thought we would take more. We are doing well”according to Fabrice Palamuzo, the president of the ASF, whose weak voice betrayed a certain emotion. “But we completely accept the sanctions, which have been concentrated on the senior team. Besides, we will not present a senior team for the next five years. We will focus on our young people, the U15s and U17s, to that they can eventually build a senior team.”
At the US-Ro Claix, we welcome these sanctions in a mixed way. “We are satisfied with the sanctions against the stab-carrier. On the other hand, we would have liked more suspension matches for the other players, and above all, a heavier punishment for the senior team. not the first time that things like this have happened at Fontaine, and we would have liked the ban for the senior team to extend over several years, and not just one season”believes Jean-Christophe Debernardi, one of the club’s leaders, who “accepted” however the penalties.