Ligue 2 and National 1 clubs denounce deception. According to RMC Sport, parents would have used their child’s alleged illness to obtain free player shirts. Community managers of football teams realized the scheme on social networks. On a video sent to the Bourg Péronnas club, the little boy is a certain Lucas suffering from leukemia… However, the Quevilly-Rouen club received a request from this same family, whose child would this time be from Rouen. According to information from RMC Sport, a dozen clubs have been contacted by this family.
The supposed modus operandi seems well established: the parents would have changed their surname for each request, while evoking different illnesses for their son. The boy appears in videos posted on social media, claiming to be a recently moved supporter. According to Le Parisien, the parents would have registered the email and postal addresses of their former neighbors in the Var. The latter would have been asked by this famous couple to receive the packages containing the jerseys at the beginning of the year 2022. Realizing the fraudulent maneuver, they filed a complaint for “identity theft”, according to Le Parisien.
This case is not an isolated case. Professional football clubs receive daily requests with photos or videos of sick children. Repeated shenanigans can discourage football teams from giving gifts to children, thus penalizing families truly in need. “As a matter of principle, I say no to everything because you can never tell right from wrong. This story is proof of that, ”lamented Maxime Malovry, communication officer at FC Chambly (National) and contacted by the couple, with our colleagues from Ouest-France.
