Immediately arrived, immediately criticized. The leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ), Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, was quick Monday evening to denounce the recruitment of Sandro Grande as the new head coach of the CF Montreal reserve team. He had made “filthy and criminal” remarks on the sidelines of the shooting that occurred on the evening of the election of Pauline Marois at the head of Quebec, on September 4, 2012.
In the wake of the Metropolis shooting, Sandro Grande wrote this controversial message on his Twitter account: “The only mistake the shooter made last night was missing his target!!! Marois!!! Next time dude! I hope ! »
According to the daily The Press, Grande has always claimed that her account was then hacked. The ex-footballer, however, admitted to having called separatist voters “rednecks” (“ hillbillies ), adding that they were “so stupid it’s unimaginable”.
“Grande did not make a single trivial mistake or tweet too much one evening, he repeatedly made filthy and criminal remarks targeting more than 2 million separatist Quebecers. This tacit guarantee by CF Montreal is untenable and extremely uncomfortable, ”reacted late Monday evening Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, in a series of publications on his Twitter account.
1/4 The PQ strongly denounces this unacceptable appointment.
As a reminder, in the hours following the Metropolis tragedy, Grande posted this: “The only mistake the shooter made last night was missing his target! Marois! Next time dude! I hope!_ https://t.co/dfXzkxJavu
— Paul St-Pierre Plamondon (@PaulPlamondon) January 10, 2023
“Serious mistakes”
Sandro Grande was not in his first controversy. In 2009, he was released from the Montreal Impact after grabbing teammate Mauro Biello by the throat during training. On Monday, the new head coach at the soccer club also apologized in a press release published by CF Montreal for the “serious mistakes” he made in the past, without however detailing them.
“I made serious mistakes several years ago and I am deeply sorry for disrespecting anyone. I learned a lot from them and I know that I am joining an organization where the values of inclusion and diversity are fundamental. I think it’s important to use our personal experiences to continually improve and correct our past mistakes,” he wrote. “Insufficient” excuses, replied the leader of the PQ on Twitter.
Sandro Grande has held the position of technical director of FC Laval since October 2021, after having previously held this position with the club Les Étoiles de l’Est, from 2011 to 2019. He also held the position of manager of men’s soccer programs and feminine from Collège Montmorency, from July 2017 to January 2021.
Previously, he played with the Montreal Impact during the 2004, 2005 as well as 2008 and 2009 seasons, in the USL. The former midfielder also had a few stays in Europe, notably in Italy, Scandinavia and Lithuania. Grande holds a UEFA A coaching license.
In order to assist him, the CF also announced on Monday the hiring of assistant coach Patrick Viollat. The latter was until now technical director of the Concordia Regional Soccer Association, he who also served as head coach, from 2009 to 2016, then from 2019 to today. He was also technical director of the Lac St-Louis Regional Soccer Association from 2016 to 2019. He has also been an assistant coach with the women’s and men’s teams at McGill University since 2012.
With The Canadian Press