It is not three but ultimately four complaints which target Saïd Chabane, the president of the Angers Sporting club de l'Ouest (SCO) football club and boss of the delicatessen group Cosnelle, indicted Wednesday 5 February in the evening for aggravated sexual assault. A fourth victim made himself known on Wednesday at the end of the day, a month after the first complaint filed by an employee of the club, on January 7.
The victims, aged 25 to 30, all describe similar facts, which would have occurred between 2014 and November 2019. Touching the chest and buttocks and trying to kiss. With this aggravating circumstance that the person concerned would have used his quality as president and business manager to put pressure on the victims, all employed or now ex-employees.
Released at the end of his police custody, Said Chabane was placed under judicial supervision at the request of the public prosecutor of Angers, Eric Bouillard, with restrictive measures which do not prevent him from exercising the presidency of the club but approach the four victims and the main witnesses. For these facts, which he formally challenges, Said Chabane risks up to seven years in prison and a million euros fine under article 222-28 of the penal code.
Cautious silence
As soon as he left the office of the investigating judge, his lawyer, Pascal Rouiller, held a brief press conference. "Said Chabane answered all of the questions put to him and made sure to collaborate very closely with the investigation and to answer within the limits of what he knew", he explained, pointing out, for three of the victims, "Very old facts about which they had never complained". The lawyer added: "The prosecution found that an investigation was necessary to verify the authenticity and the seriousness of the accusation brought against him. He can now access the file and exercise the rights of his defense. " Me Rouiller concluded his speech without answering any questions:
"Mr. Chabane says he is innocent of what he is accused of. He is defending himself with calm and determination and he will continue his efforts in the coming months to simply obtain the truth. "
In Angers, the announcement of Saïd Chabane's police custody was received in various ways. If the SCO executives have contented themselves with a press release published on the club's website, the players have been discreetly informed by the general manager. Politicians preferred to observe a cautious silence. Christophe Béchu, the mayor of Angers, declined to answer journalists' questions.
Born in Algiers in 1964, Saïd Chabane entered the world of football in 2005, taking shares in the Le Mans club. The businessman had previously made a fortune by creating the Cosnelle group in 1997, a conglomerate of companies working in the field of cured meats and cured meats. A group based in Cherré (Sarthe) and which today employs around 500 people in La Ferté-Bernard (Sarthe), Nevers (Nièvre) or Thurins (Rhône).
"Prepare my exit"
In 2011, he took control of the SCO following the legal setbacks of President Willy Bernard (sentenced to two years in prison for misuse of corporate property and bankruptcy).
By relying on two strong men – manager Olivier Pickeu and trainer Stéphane Moulin, still in office – he will take the SCO to Ligue 1 in 2015 and make significant capital gains on resale players such as Nicolas Pépé, transferred to Lille in 2017 for 10 million euros, Karl Toko-Ekambi, bought € 1 million from Sochaux in 2016 and sold to Villarreal (Spain) for € 16 million two years later, or Jeff Reine -Adélaïde, arrived from Arsenal in 2018 for € 1.5 million and sold € 25 million to Olympique Lyonnais a year later. While his industrial group is experiencing financial difficulties, Said Chabane has established himself in the professional football world, impressed by his vista. Since 2017, he has sat on the board of directors of the Professional Football League (LFP).
At World, in October 2019, he gave an appointment in 2022: "I will start to prepare my exit and to open the capital", he said, aware that the club, bought 1.7 million euros in 2011, was now valued in the tens of millions of euros. Particularly thanks to the windfall of TV rights, which guarantees the pactole to the clubs which remain in the elite at least five consecutive seasons. A goal that the SCO should reach at the end of this season. He is currently 13e of the championship, with 9 points ahead of the first relegation.
