The president of the US Orléans football club, Philippe Boutron, did could not take the start Dakar 2022 this January 1 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Two days before, this December 30, it was seriously injured calf in the explosion an assistance vehicle from his team, Sodicars, according to information from France Télévisions. Saudi authorities have off the track of a “criminal” act.
The explosion would have occurred near a gas station, under the car and not at the level of the engine, whereas it had to undergo a technical control before the start of the rally. The explosion caused a hole in the floor of the vehicle. Philippe Boutron, of which it was to be the ninth Dakar, was the only one of six passengers in the vehicle to have been injured, race organizer ASO confirmed in a statement.
The criminal trail ruled out
The 61-year-old USO Foot boss was operated this saturday and “is better. He should return to France in the next few days”race director David Castera told Francetv sport. Contacted by France Bleu Orléans, the administrative director of US Orléans, Boris Luce, explains that Philippe Boutron should be repatriated “this Sunday or Monday, to be hospitalized again in metropolitan France”.
For his part, the Saudi Minister of the Interior has dismissed on Twitter any “criminal suspicion” to explain this “accident”. Safety around the Dakar 2022 has all the same been reinforced following the explosion.