France: Tourcoing – Chaumont 3-0! It’s Game 5! Forfeit of Narbonne

Two Game 4 of Playoffs quarterfinals series were played today. A great Tourcoing managed to tie the series with Chaumont celebrating a great home victory in straight sets while, the other match, was not played.

The reason? Thursday night there was an inadmissible fact at the end of the playoffs quarterfinals Game 3 between Sète and Narbonne: a staff member of the home team security member has literally knocked out Narbonne’s physical trainer, Leandro Lardone, with 2 punches.

In protest, the fourth-placed team in Ligue A regular season did not take the field tonight, declaring forfeit for Game 4 by releasing this press release, translated into English (original below):

“Attack of anger!!!
An inadmissible event closed the Sète / Narbonne match on Thursday 14, valid as the third match of the quarter-finals of the French championship play-offs. Our physical trainer, Leandro Lardone, was attacked and knocked out by 2 punches in the face, dealt by a security member of Arago de Sète. Two of ours players, Allan Verissimo and Rafael Araujo, were subsequently injured by the service of safety of the club of Sète. A service of security that by vocation should prevent excesses and aggressions, not be the author.
No personal rescue service was present inside or at the edges of the venue, no one came to ascertain the state of Leandro Lardone, fallen to the ground unconscious for a few seconds.
And if someone less resistant than him was found under the blows of this individual?
In protest we took the decision not to take the field and to declare forfeit for this evening’s match; Narbonne Volley as a whole collectivity (salaried, managers, staff, players) means say “STOP!” to violence and ask for one
collective awareness to defend an idea of volleyball and sport in general without these actors having to fear having to run into episodes of violence. May it be physical, verbal or written on social networks. The teams are made up of humans who love their sport above all and what about it they live. No player or member of the staff should be assaulted by exercising his profession.
It is perhaps time to put back the true values of sport at the center of priorities. Violence does not must become a fatality, a banality.
What happened Thursday evening in Sète is at the antipodes of sportsmanship and its values of sharing and educational.
There is no excuse or justification for acts of violence!
We suggest a moratorium on safety conditions in volleyball halls.
We also hope that the sanctions which will be taken by the sporting bodies are copies so that such an event does not happen again in any volleyball court.”

This match, originally, was planned to be played behind closed doors.

And so there are two series to Game 5: in addition to Narbonne-Sète (Game 5 will be played in Narbonne), also Chaumont will play the decisive duel against Tourcoing in their home court. 3-0 is in fact the final result today (25:23, 27:25, 25:16). MVP of the match Vaccari, who next season will return to Brazil to wear Sada Cruzeiro’s jersey, author of 13 points, 60% and 35% efficiency in attack and 1 ace but Chaumont, on the other hand, made an impressive number of errors, 32, including 17 from the service line and 11 in attack.

__________________

🏐| LIGUE A 2021/22 – Playoffs Quarterfinals – Best-of-five

Game 1 | April 8, 2022
• Narbonne (4) – Sète (5) 3-1 (25:18, 25:20, 20:25, 27:25)
• Montpellier (3) – Paris (6) 3-1 (25:16, 25:19, 19:25, 25:23)
• Tours (1) – Nice (8) 3-2 (27:25, 20:25, 18:25, 25:22, 15:7)

• Chaumont (2) – Tourcoing (7) 3-1 (25:22, 20:25, 25:17, 25:18)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH

__________________

Game 2 |April 10, 2022

• Montpellier – Paris 3-0 (25:18, 25:17, 25:22)

• Chaumont – Tourcoing 3-0 (25:16, 25:23, 25:23)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH

• Narbonne – Sète 3-1 (26:24, 19:25, 25:21, 25:21)
• Tours – Nice 3-0 (25:18, 25:19, 25:19)

__________________

Game 3 | April 14, 2022

• Nice – Tours 2-3 (24:26, 22:25, 25:29, 25:23, 13:15)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH

• Tourcoing – Chaumont 3-2 (19:25, 25:20, 21:25, 30:28, 15:7)
• Paris – Montpellier 0-3 (20:25, 16:25, 22:25)
• Sète – Narbonne 3-1 (25:21, 17:25, 26:24, 25:19)

__________________

Game 4 | April 16, 2022

• Tourcoing – Chaumont 3-0 (25:23, 27:25, 25:16)

• Sète – Narbonne 3-0 (25:0, 25:0, 25:0) FORFEIT

__________________

Game 5 | April 20, 2022
• Chaumont (2) – Tourcoing (7) 3-0 (25:20, 25:18, 25:20) Serie: 3-2
• Narbonne (4) – Sète (5) 3-2 (21:25, 25:23, 25:23, 23:25, 15:12) Serie: 3-2

__________________