Ouest-France report that the match-fixing investigation into a recent Ligue 1 clash between SM Caen and Angers SCO was all kickstarted because of a Snapchat conversation between a youth academy player at EA Guingamp and a player of similar standing at Angers SCO.
René Brugger, the author of the investigation on the LFP’s side into the affair, has produced some rather notable conclusions.
Everything began on Saturday 13th April, the day of the SM Caen vs Angers game, just before 14:00. EA Guingamp President Bertrand Desplat called the Head of the LFP, Didier Quillot.
Desplat claimed that he had been told from inside his club that Angers players had been in contact with Guingamp players about the possible arranging of the fixture between Caen and Angers.
The report references a specific conversation, over Snapchat, between two teenage players at Angers and Guingamp respectively. It claims that the individual on the Angers side invited friends to bet on this supposedly fixed match. The player in question testified to the commission, informing them that he meant it as a joke:
“It was said in a jokey tone, I never thought that this would have such consequences, I am truly sorry.”
On the basis of this, Desplat told Quillot that he had heard “strange” things about the Caen vs. Angers match without knowing the identities of the protagonists in this stories, nor any facts. Quillot alerted the match official due to oversee the encounter later that day, and informed Caen and Angers Presidents Sergent and Chabane.
Two hours before kick-off, the referee called both captains into his quarters to explain that this game was under investigation and that suspicions had arisen – sources at the encounter have spoken of Caen captain Prince Oniangué’s crestfallen look when he left that meeting.
The game saw relegation-battling Caen lose 1-0, dominated throughout by their opponents.
René Brugger’s report concludes that “not a single element calls into question the integrity of this match between Caen & Angers.”
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The LFP will rule on the report on Wednesday.