Wednesday, March 8, 2023 at 11:04 am

Abdel Bouhazama, the now ex-trainer of Angers, resigned on Tuesday afternoon because of the disappointing sporting results and a very strange remark about assaulting women. The 54-year-old Frenchman has been at the helm of the Ligue 1’s bottom line since the end of November as successor to the dismissed Gérald Baticle.

Bouhazama let 28-year-old defender Ilyes Chetti play a half last Sunday in the lost duel with Montpellier (5-0). However, the left back is suspected of assault and must answer for it in court in April. Afterwards, Bouhazama would have defended the decision to let Chetti play in the dressing room against the rest of the selection. “It is not too bad. We’ve all touched a girl.”

That statement soon found its way to the French newspapers and it provoked a storm of criticism. Bouhazama would have denied the statement at first, but eventually he admitted his mistake. “I also said that it is not good what Chetti has done. But I also said that we have all made mistakes and done stupid things. I certainly don’t approve of his behavior. I am a father of two daughters,” quoted L’Equipe the trainer.

Tuesday afternoon Bouhazama decided to leave. “For the sake of completeness, we would like to mention that Bouhazama had been considering resigning for some time,” Angers writes in a statement. “He was already thinking about that at the end of February, as a result of the sporting setbacks. Controversy then erupted over comments he made in the match conference, taken out of context and leaked to the press.” Angers condemns the ex-trainer’s statements. “The club does not accept any form of discrimination and condemns sexism and misogyny. Bouhazama has apologized to his colleagues, especially to women, and decided to draw his own conclusions.”