For the inauguration, children came to train on the stadium. C.S. – Midi Libre
Postponed, then moved to the same day, the inauguration of the Maurice-Pelatan stadium took place on Wednesday, December 4. But due to security conditions, except on the day of its inauguration, no children would train there for the time being.
Undoubtedly, the new Maurice-Pelatan sports area, inaugurated more than 6 months after its commissioning, is an essential infrastructure. In the heart of Chemin-Bas d’Avignon, on this polar afternoon of Wednesday, December 4, many young children accompanied by their parents were having fun on the playgrounds. Many, too, were these neighborhood teenagers laughing and letting off steam on the pre-existing city stadium, whose surface has finally, to their great surprise, been renovated. “It doesn't matter if it rains, winds or snows, every evening we meet here to kick a ball, until the street lights go out!”, said one of these young people between two passes.
An image created for the media
Behind the elected officials, officials, residents and associations, who came in large numbers to attend the ribbon cutting, the children of Jeunesse sportive du Chemin-Bas d´Avignon Football (JSCBA) were also particularly mobilized to run after the ball. In their bright blue jerseys, on this brand new half-synthetic football pitch measuring 61 by 46 meters and now replacing the historic Pelatan stadium, which has become a wasteland over time.
This spectacle and the unmissable final photo of these neighborhood children, surrounded by local dignitaries at the end of the meeting were certainly pleasant. But they cannot hide a sad reality: that of a scene created for the media: because children in everyday life, on this stadium, it is almost never a question.
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Like Sofia, 13 years old and her friends (“who are clearly the pride of JSCBA Football“, insists, all smiles, one of the leaders), all these children mobilized for this operation do not train in the neighborhood. “We just came to do a demo, admits Roselyne Ben Ali, president of the club. For about ten years years since Pelatan was no longer approved, we train at Jean-Bouin.” And the renovation of the stadium will not change anything. “It will not be approved for matches. For the seniors, the field is too small, we do not have the space to train there. As for the children, I do not want to take the responsibility of making them play here. The police are doing their job, but…” Behind the “but”, the consequences of drug trafficking and its ravages which undermine the inhabitants: “There is what you know, you journalists. And then there is what we see and what we experience on a daily basis”, regrets the president for three years of Jeunesse sportive du Chemin-Bas d´Avignon, which has some 300 members and seventeen teams, including women.
On the Pelatan pitch, a player agrees: “This new pitch is too small”, while the thorny issue of restoring security in the neighborhood is inevitably raised. Mohamed Samari, bus driver and vice-president of JSCBA, says he now comes to train at Maurice-Pelatan every evening. “Only veterans come to play here. Children don't, except today!”, confirms the one who grew up in the neighborhood, explaining: “We, the supervisors, prefer to wait and see how things evolve before taking the children. In the meantime, the parents don't want the little ones to come and train here. For fear of a stray bullet! “
The investment of the prefecture noted
In the middle of distributing caps stamped with the colors of the City brought by the town hall, this association member very attached to his neighborhood recognizes however that the security situation of Chemin-Bas is improving. “Thanks to the special investment of the prefecture”, he insists. If the stadium renovation project was essentially financed by the State (to the tune of 700,000 euros of the million shown on the note), it is part of a much more global project of urban renewal of this priority district. “In which more than 10 million euros have already been invested in equipment (school, sports infrastructure, etc.), in order to improve the quality of life of residents”, Mathias Nieps, sub-prefect of Gard delegated to urban policy, was keen to point out during the inauguration of the stadium.
“This stadium is really a good thing for the neighborhood, with the adjoining ping-pong tables, recognizes Roselyne Ben Ali. It is important to succeed in reviving it.” But within JSCBA Football, a member was shot dead four years ago and a coach was seriously injured in the leg last year, collateral victims of score-settling between drug dealers in the neighborhood. Pelatan, a step towards the rehabilitation of a neighborhood so constantly caught up in insecurity.
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