It was 2:50 a.m. when the police were called on Saturday following an altercation taking place on the “Coeur de Maine” esplanade in Angers. A 32-year-old man of Sudanese origin stabbed to death three youths aged 16, 18 and 20. The last two are players of Wallisian and Futunian origin and play in a local club in federal 3. The arrested suspect is a political refugee in a regular situation, already known to the police, according to information from franceinfo. The man had tried to annoy young girls in the center of Angers, according to the prosecution. Chased away by a group of young people, he subsequently returned twice, but the last time with a kitchen knife.
The whole SCO Rugby Angers family joins in the pain of the parents of Atama and Manolito who died last night in Angers. Atama and Manolito were club kids.
We extend our sincere condolences to their family and to the entire Wallis community. pic.twitter.com/i1VrwxTYmR— SCO Rugby Angers (@scorugbyoff) July 16, 2022
“The emotion is very strong“, reacted this Sunday on franceinfo Jean-Benoît Portier, the president of SCO Rugby d’Angers, who called for respect for the family and for “the Wallisian community which is very strong, very established and is part of the DNA of the club”.
franceinfo: who exactly were these two young people?
Jeans-Benoit Portier: They are among the young people whose Wallisian community is very important in our club. It is historic to have young people from this community who are among us. They have done rugby school at the club up to the youth pole since 2012, they were 9-10 years old until they were around 18 years old. They had not resumed rugby following the Covid crisis and one of the two was injured. But we still saw them regularly at the club anyway. The emotion is very great because first of all, they are young people from the club and even if they had not taken out a license this year, we are part of a club for life. And then, they all have an uncle, a cousin within the club. Even though they hadn’t played for a little over a year, they were there to see the games of their friends, their cousins. Among the leaders, the educators, there are people who took care of them. And then it is for example one of the young people who is the cousin of Emerick Setiano who is an international who was trained at the club. The emotion is very strong.
Has the club planned a special tribute?
It is a bit early. First, we put the club at half mast. What is needed for the moment is to preserve the privacy of the families. These are very strong cultures that we must respect. This is why we speak little, if at all. But it is quite obvious that as soon as the championships resume, as soon as there are ceremonies, we will be present and we will pay tribute to them to the club, to them and to the whole Wallisian community which is very strong, very established and made part of the club’s DNA.
Do you know exactly what happened in the night from Friday to Saturday?
I think we have to let the legal department, the police and the law do their job. There are several explanations. This is not the moment. For now, it’s time to respect the families, to respect these young people who died much too quickly and who may have given of themselves.