Once again, the Strasbourg Omer Demir put a magnificent spotlight on it, managing to convince his idol, Zinédine Zidane, to support his cause, that of the fight against the abandonment of animals. An unconditional football fan and passionate friend of animals, particularly dogs, he “after a year of approach” convinced the interplanetary football star, the former captain of the French team and 1998 world champion, to accept to pose for a photo with him. But above all to make a short video for the attention of all the volunteers of animal protection associations while he wore a flocked “Stop abandonment” jersey.
Every year for seven years, with his dog Hatchi, a Husky known in Alsace for having been for a time the mascot of Racing supporters (RCS) and who has a certain celebrity on Instagram with more than 21k followers, Omer Démir is taking on the challenge of contacting a celebrity. Not for glory, but to help in the fight against animal abandonment and to raise awareness, time a photo and a video which he then publishes on social networks.
With his “friend Hatchi”, his “dog who opens all doors for him”, he was “lucky” to have in the past the agreement of Miss Alsace, Miss France, players from Racing, Losc, Pascal the big brother, etc. And to give Hatchi the leading role in several awareness videos on animal abandonment for the Strasbourg SPA. Happy with this media support and keeping the hope each year of “striking even higher”, Omer Démir had only one holy grail: his “idol” Zinédine Zidane. “It was my dream to see him one day, to talk to him,” he confides to 20 Minutes. I knew he was a very humane person and I was not mistaken. »
A perfect strategy
Problem, the star is always in high demand, it is not easy to approach her, to meet her and convince her “to take a photo with a banner or something else, or even to make a video to support the cause”, notes Omer Démir. Difficult, but not impossible. Clever, the Strasbourg resident will use a well-studied stratagem to achieve his ends. “At first I thought I would go see him with Hatchi and check with Zidane,” says Omer Démir. But we had to get to Aix-en-Provence and as it’s far away and I didn’t want to make Hatchi suffer on the road, I found another approach. »
The football fan, a professional dog handler, managed to register for Stars CUP organized by Zinédine Zidane in order to wear a jersey flocked with Stop Animal Abandonment. While waiting for the football tournament which is to be held in Aix-en-Provence, our Strasbourg resident will sympathize with those close to Zidane via the networks, will set up a Strasbourg team and will succeed in having two ex-Racing players, who now live in the south of France, including David Ledy, the former RCS scorer and current coach of Istres.
Omer Démir hoped, with his flocked jersey, to be able to “at least” quickly take a photo: “we were ready. » To put all the chances on his side, our motivated person also had the idea of having the portrait of Zinédine Zidane’s dog drawn by Sylviane Gangloff, an Alsatian artist and volunteer who defends the animal cause: “I know he is attached to his dog, he often walks with it, takes photos. So to attract his attention, I thought it would be nice to offer him the portrait of his dog, on the spot. »
The big day arrived, disappointment. “There were people everywhere, people even jumping over barriers. It’s impossible to take a photo with Zinédine that isn’t too ‘messy’,” remembers Omer Démir. It is thanks to David Ledy, close to Zidane’s family, that salvation will come. “He was aware of the project and touched by this cause, he introduced me to a member of Zidane’s family. » Objective, to arrange a coup and to be able to calmly approach the star to explain the project to him. Convinced, the relative arranges an interview barely an hour later.
A great moment… of solitude
“He was waiting for us, we explained it to him, I was stressed, I was almost shaking, and Zidane said to me, smiling kindly: ‘It’s going to be okay’. I gave him the drawing. He was very touched, very kind and caring. We took a photo, a signing of jerseys. David Ledy was taking photos,” Omer Démir tells us. And Zizou suggested that he make a video for all the volunteers who work for the animal cause. “I take the selfie video with my phone. I turn it towards Zidane who continues to film while speaking and at that moment I see that he is smiling: there was no more room in the phone,” understands Omer Démir. Seeing the volunteer’s efforts ruined in a few moments, Zidane then offers to redo the video, “with David Ledy’s phone this time”.
Initially posted on the SPA Strasbourg website, of which Hatchi is the mascot, Zizou’s video is now circulating on social networks. “It’s important, especially as summer approaches with the number of abandonments increasing,” concludes Omer Démir. The goal is scored.