A French football fairy tale - Luzenac Ariège Pyrénées

It's a touching tale, guaranteed to warm the cockles of any football fan's heart and probably those who usually aren't in the least bit interested - the rise and rise of Luzenac Ariège Pyrénées, LAP (formerly Union Sportive de Luzenac).

Forget all that high profile Qatari cash bankrolling a horde of international stars at Paris Saint-Germain as they attempt (with a degree of success) to buy themselves trophies.

Ignore all those Russian rubles Dmitry Rybolovlev is pouring into AS Monaco in an effort to keep pace with the excesses at PSG.

The real heart of the so-called "beautiful game" in France is, for the moment, alive and kicking elsewhere.

Because in the best traditions of fictional UK comic team Melchester Rovers,  LAP have just won promotion to the French second division.




No mean feat for a team originally from a village with fewer than 700 inhabitants who don't have a stadium large enough for the big time rigours of the professional league and in 2010 were on the verge of bankruptcy.

LAP celebrate after securing promotion to Ligue 2 (screenshot i>Télé report)

Their financial fortunes changed in 2011 when they were saved by Toulouse-based businessman Jérôme Ducros the following year.

He called on 1998 World Cup winning international Fabien Barthez (also originally from the département of Ariège) to act as honorary president and later general director to give the club a more professional approach to recruitment of players and staff.

And under trainer Christophe Pélissier, who has been with the club for the past seven years, LAP have moved through the ranks of amateur and regional divisions to become the smallest team to make it to the Ligue 2.

"If you had told me when I started at the club that Luzenac would be playing in Ligue 2 seven years later, I would have laughed at you," he said in an interview.

"But that's exactly what has happened...even though we still have a few problems coming to terms with it."

LAP trainer Christophe Pélissier (screenshot from official website

Luzenac's recent 1-0 win over US Boulogne was enough to give them the necessary points to secure promotion.

But as something of a poignant reminder about how fickle football fortunes can be, it's perhaps worth remembering that just a few years ago, Boulogne were playing in Ligue 1 alongside the likes of PSG and Monaco.

 

French bank blows whistle on illegal immigrant

Last weekend Yaro S. as he's being referred to in the French media, turned up at a branch of the bank Société Générale in the Parisian suburb of Boulogne to withdraw money from his account.

As is always the case for anyone wanting to make withdrawals, the cashier asked him to present some form of identity, and Yaro handed over his carte de séjour or residence permit.

The only problem was that it was a fake one. And on realising that, the clerk informed the police and went a step further by closing the doors of the bank and ensuring that Yaro was unable to make a getaway until they had arrived.

The 41-year-old Mauritanian was taken into detention and now faces deportation back to his country of origin.

The fake ID according to La Cimade, a French non-governmental organisation that offers legal assistance to undocumented immigrants, was exactly the same piece of identity Yaro had given when opening the account in the first place back in 2005.

Moreover Yaro, who has been living in France since 2002 and has been working in the kitchen of a restaurant, has a request pending with French authorities to regularise his status as a resident.

Now to some reading this, the actions of the bank staff might smack of "denunciation" and indeed unions have criticised any behaviour by bank employees, which might to many seem overzealous and give the appearance of them wishing "to participate actively in the political process of checking identity papers."

That is not the role of staff, but as a union official, Michel Marchet, points out, there is something of a dilemma.

"When they (the employees) realise a fake ID is being presented, they are required to report it," he says.

"It's not necessarily taking part in tracking down illegal immigrants, but an obligation to ensure that there is no fraud or money laundering occurring, something for which fake identities are often used," he adds.

Société Générale's position on what happened runs along the line of "it being the responsibility of the bank to ensure that the person withdrawing money is also the one to whom the account belongs".

But it neatly sidesteps the issue that the only way Yaro was able to open the account in the first place back in 2005 was by using the very same ID that became his undoing last weekend.

For La Cimade though, what has happened to Yaro is part of a disturbing trend here in France.

"This case is symptomatic of a growing tendency to 'inform' (on illegal immigrants)," it says, pointing out that over the summer three other cases of illegal immigrant being denounced have succeeded.