It all started with a tweet, published by a journalist present in the bays of the Auguste-Delaune stadium on Sunday. While attending the match between Stade Brestois and Stade de Reims (1-1), the journalist from Mediapart Ilyes Ramdani heard racist messages against Youcef Belaïli. In a tweet, the editor reports that several Reims supporters would have uttered insults such as: “We are in France” or “One, two, three. Go back to your country” targeting the Algerian midfielder at Stade Brestois. The Finistère club had announced “to carry out the investigation in collaboration with the Reims club to establish the possible actions to be taken”, through the voice of its sports director Grégory Lorenzi.
Remained silent since the revelation of the facts, the Algerian Football Federation (FAF) published a statement on Tuesday to condemn these facts. In a tweet written in Arabic and French, the body deplored the “xenophobic remarks” of which the international had been the subject and “vigorously condemns these retrograde attitudes and from another time which go against the virtues sport and fair play”.
In a video posted on social networks, we can hear a supporter throwing: “It’s an Arab, it’s an Arab that one, it’s normal they piss us off. Long live Éric Zemmour” when the Algerian was about to take a penalty (which he will miss). In the stands, several Algerian supporters were present to cheer their international. Most even left the stands when their favorite player left. Arrived at Stade Brestois in the winter transfer window, Youcef Belaïli did not speak about the insults of which he was the victim.