Illustration of a football field. – G. Varela / 20 Minutes
A former football coach is referred to the Assize Court for rape or sexual assault on minors between 2003 and 2018 in the Paris region: he took advantage of his aura with young people dreaming of becoming professional players to sexually abuse them.
Ahmed G., 48, “transformed these player-coach relationships into sexual relationships in order to satisfy (his) attraction” to adolescents of African descent, mostly under the age of 15, sums up one Parisian examining magistrate in his order of dismissal of February 4, which AFP has taken note of. The facts came to light in October 2015, When the mother of a 13-year-old teenager discovers sexual messages from his trainer on her son’s cellphone.
Already two incarcerations for continuing to train minors
Indicted and placed under judicial supervision in February 2016 with a ban on seeing minors, Ahmed G. was imprisoned a month later: he continued contacts with young people and training. After a year of detention, he was released again with a ban on being around soccer fields and teenagers. But he was reincarcerated in February 2019: he was training young people in a Ile-de-France club. In the meantime, he raped another boy.
The investigation made it possible to identify several victims, young black football enthusiasts, from a modest background, who “admired Ahmed G.” “He contests all rapes. On the other hand, he recognizes certain sexual assaults, but disputes others, ”his lawyer, Me Peggy Salomé, told AFP.
Ahmed G. uses a “recurring modus operandi”: he presents himself as a recruiter for training centers, offers young people gifts, advises them, accompanies them after training. He gains the trust of the parents and becomes “a referent”, describes the magistrate. Once the close relationship is established, he commits his first touching – caresses and kisses – then blowjobs and penetrations if the teenager does not resist.
“In our opinion, the victims are much more numerous”
If the minor opposes it, he claims that his gestures are signs of affection or massages. The educator, “clever and manipulative” according to the accusation, asks his victims to erase the exchanges on their phones and to silence sexual relations. “An omerta settles in every child,” said a source familiar with the matter to AFP.
The investigation came up against the difficult identification of other victims and the silence of the adolescents. ” In our opinion, the victims are many more numerous. We have seen a liberation of speech, but it is a still fragile process, ”says Me Agathe Blanc, who defends four boys.
According to testimonies, Ahmed G., married and childless, “was very close to his players”. “He urged young people to come to his home after matches to play on the console or watch TV. The minors stayed very late at night, ”says a member of his sports entourage. “It is an extremely heavy file, it acted over a very long period: it is a real predator”, observes the close source.