Tony Vairelles is now a relieved man to finally be able to tell his truth after the affair of the “4 aces” nightclub in Essey Les Nancy in October 2011. The first 50 pages of this autobiographical book are devoted to this night who changed the lives of his entire family and the bouncers present in the parking lot of this nightclub. 4 brothers from the Vairelles family were tried at the start of the year for “violence in a meeting, with premeditation and with a weapon”.
On May 16, the former RC Lens player was sentenced to 5 years in prison, 2 of which were suspended for violence with weapons.. His three brothers, Giovan Jimmy and Fabrice, were also sentenced to prison terms. The three security guards were given suspended prison sentences: three months for one and four months for the other two.
CCTV footage that raises questions
Once again, at the microphone of France Bleu Nord, Tony Vairelles did his best to defend his innocence and that of his 3 brothers: “Our lawyers did a great job. They managed to highlight the inconsistencies in this file. There are 2 salient points: First the video surveillance that existed in the parking lot of the nightclub. The images were only requisitioned 3 or 4 days after the events. And we then found images of a concert of the Enfoirés. So someone stole the existing “cassette” to replace it. And then there is dabbing, this technique which makes it possible to find traces of powder or micro-burns, in particular following gunshots. Only one of my brothers was tested, but nothing compatible was found.”
The son of Tony Vairelles collateral victim
Tony Vairelles concedes it, there is in his life and in that of his relatives, a before and after this period of 5 months of incarceration following his indictment: “At first, I didn’t want my son to come see me in prison, but my wife, Audrey, had to take him. Guydjo, who was in first grade, thought I was dead. When he came to the parlor, he did not understand. One day, my wife couldn’t find him, he had left with his backpack to rescue dad. If I had known that while I was in prison, I would have gone mad.”
Vairelles exchanged for CR7?
In this autobiographical book, Tony Vairelles also returns to some crisp anecdotes that have punctuated his career. While he was a player in Lyon, his club considered his departure to Portugal at Sporting then managed by Laslo Bölöni who knew Tony very well: “The coach tells me that the Portuguese club cannot pay a transfer fee and that it plans to loan 2 young players from the club. The coach tells me about one of them, Ronaldo. I smile . Ronaldo the Brazilian? No, it’s super young, Cristiano, you’ll see, he’s going to have a great career. But in the end the deal didn’t happen. I think Lyon wanted the money.”
A close relationship with Guy, her father
I always called him “Pa”. There was mutual admiration. In the family we have always been very admiring of our father (Guy Vairelles died at the beginning of 2022). He was our hero. But I remember my first match against PSG, it was huge for someone who admires his dad to see this admiration in his eyes for the first time, which has become mutual. We had the same passion and the same love of football. We had almost become equals. We were estranged for several years, and then we found each other, it was a magical moment. But on the other hand, we say that time wasted for nothing.”