MARSEILLE: “For the game, for the passion, for the neighborhood!”: In Marseille, the HCup, an inter-district football tournament, has recovered from the dramatic shooting that ended the event last summer and even grows, celebrating a popular football to which some “pros” come to taste.
Friday evening, the La Martine stadium, in the northern districts of Marseille, took on the air of a mini-Vélodrome. Drums, megaphones, smoke bombs and fireworks, there were several hundred supporters who came for the semi-finals to support the team “from home”, from their neighborhood.
Faced with the spectacle, Salim Ben Boina, goalkeeper for the Comoros selection and co-organizer of the event, stamps: “Next year, we want the Vélodrome”.
While waiting for the big stadium, the final will oppose Sunday “the guys of 3” of Félix-Pyat, city of the very popular 3rd arrondissement and stronghold of the Comorian diaspora, to the team of Clos, district of the 13th arrondissement, in the North of Marseilles. The kick-off will be given by Mayor Benoît Payan, a sign that the HCup has settled in the local landscape.
In 2020, however, the first edition, a little wild, a little clandestine, was done on the fly, down to the referees who whistled in hoods to avoid being sanctioned by the League.
“It was the end of confinement, everyone needed to get together. We organized a few matches between friends from each neighborhood and we said to ourselves why not have a competition?” Soilhou Ahamed told AFP. , sports agent at OnlyPro, one of the four friends behind the tournament.
Pizzas and rappers
“We know where we come from, we can get by with three pieces of wood. We asked the players five euros, we went to get pizzas and drinks and we were together for a friendly moment,” he adds.
But little by little, the business grew, driven by the efficiency of social networks, the dynamism of a team of volunteers and the help of local celebrities such as rappers Alonzo or L’Algerino, who came to give the shots. ‘mail.
For Soilhou Ahamed, the tournament thus made it possible to “show the know-how and the talent of the people of the districts, to whom we often close the doors”.
Initially confined to the North, the event has now expanded to the center (Félix-Pyat), to the South (La Cayolle) and even around Marseille with Aubagne and Vitrolles.
“Marseille is the melting pot and the capital of football. But we wanted to show that it is also that of popular football, not just OM”, explains Soilhou Ahamed.
“Last year, we played matches in the south, we wanted to break the cliché and the North-South social divide. Next year there will be other teams, some from more affluent neighborhoods and we will show that all that , it’s Marseille, that we can mix.”
Dramatic shooting
The atmosphere and the very good level of play also attracted some confirmed players from L2 or L1, who came to defend the colors of their home districts, such as Ilan Kebbal (Reims), Hugo Magnetti (Brest) or Youssouf M’Changama (Auxerre).
“It’s our little galaxy of stars who play the game,” smiles Soilhou Ahamed. “For them it’s a huge feeling to come back to play in their neighborhood. They rediscover the DNA of their passion.”
However, everything could have collapsed last year, when the 2021 edition was overtaken by the violence which hit certain districts of Marseille with a shooting after a match. Two Malpassé players are targeted, one is killed, the other seriously injured. The two had just been released from prison after convictions for drug trafficking.
“It was dramatic. But it also reflects what is happening in our city,” admits Soilhou Ahamed. “If it had only been up to the four of us, we would have stopped. But it overtook us and we decided to do it for Marseille and the neighborhoods.”
Despite attacks from the National Rally, the municipality did not back down on its support for the event. “It was never under discussion,” assured AFP Hedi Ramdane, the deputy mayor in charge of youth. “The mayor received them and told them that he was going to support them so that they come back even stronger.” How far to the Velodrome?