Surely the end of the career of a hope of French rugby. Mohamed Haouas, the international pillar of Montpellier (16 caps), was sentenced on Tuesday, in immediate appearance, to one year in prison without a warrant by the Montpellier Criminal Court for domestic violence against his wife, the mother of their two children. The prosecutor had requested two years in prison, including one firm, with revocation of the six-month suspended sentence pronounced in February 2022 (read below), i.e. 18 months firm with continued detention. The rugby player – who will be released from prison on Tuesday evening – will return to court on June 26, before a sentencing judge, in order to determine the conditions for adjusting his sentence.
The solid 29-year-old player (1.85 m for 123 kg) had been remanded in custody following violence against his wife. Haouas, seized with “an attack of jealousy” according to his lawyer Me Marc Gallix, had inflicted a brush and a slap on her, before pulling her violently by the arm, in front of the Polygone shopping center. Facts that had occurred in front of witnesses and surveillance cameras.
An outburst of incomprehensible violence but which he justified when he saw that his wife was hiding from him that she… smoked. “I trip him, I give him a little slap like that and I tell him, ‘You have to assume and tell the truth.’ It’s true that she was crying, yes I raised my hand on her, I’m sorry, I didn’t control myself, I’m sorry, it’s not her fault,” admitted Haouas at the hearing. And to add: “I made a film for myself… She has the right to smoke (…) but the problem is that she lied to me. I told myself that if she can lie for the cigarette, she can lie for something else.
“His wife, who is a civil party, will come to testify in his favor and say that she does not want to leave him and that she still gives him a chance”, had indicated the player’s lawyer before the hearing . The wife of Mohamed Haouas has indeed requested one euro in damages. “She doesn’t want to be the face of any cause. She has her vision, as a free woman, explained Ms. Haouas’s lawyer, Me Florian Medico. She tells you that her interest is to see her husband again and to make it understood that these facts are not acceptable. The path will continue with Mohamed Haouas. She is in search of balance, of justice. You have their lives in your hands.”
From this weekend, this case had caused a stir. “If they are established, the acts of domestic violence alleged against Mohamed Haouas are unacceptable”, had immediately deplored in a tweet the Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. Adding: “Justice will now quickly shed full light on the situation so that all the necessary consequences are drawn, both criminally and sportingly.”
During his last appearance on the bench of the defendants (on May 12!), He had been tried, with five friends, for acts of “aggravated violence”, in particular on a police officer, and “destruction of equipment in a meeting”. For these facts dating back to January 1, 2014, after New Year’s Eve, the prosecution had requested a two-year suspended prison sentence, with a deliberation expected on June 30. At the time, he explained his will was to “never come back to court again.” And to confide: “It’s not good what we did that day, I’m sorry, it’s not a pride. When you’re young, you do stupid things.
Previously, in February 2022, the native of Le Havre – nicknamed by his teammates “Kubiac”, the giant of the series “Parker Lewis never loses” in the 90s – had been sentenced to an 18-month suspended prison sentence for burglaries of bar-tabac, also in 2014. Two years before the start of his career as a professional rugby player.
One thing is certain: his career with the XV of France seems already over, he should not participate in the World Cup in France. When he took office, Haouas was one of those famous “UFOs” with an atypical career, like Anthony Bouthier (MHR), Melvyn Jaminet (Usap then Toulouse) or Thibaud Flament (Toulouse). Indisputable holder after the 2019 World Cup, the Montpellier player then quickly demoted in the hierarchy of right pillars behind Uini Atonio (La Rochelle), Sipili Falatea (UBB) or Dorian Aldegheri (Toulouse) and even Thomas Laclayat (Oyonnax).
Big problem, his international career was marked by two red cards in the Tournament, in 2020 (for a punch) then in 2023 (because of a header), each time against Scotland. Becoming the first tricolor international to receive two red cards in his career. Last February, Fabien Galthié, the coach of the Blues, said after his second expulsion: “I want to encourage him, protect him, help him. They were leading 19-0 against Scotland. He is part of the France team that beat Scotland with the attacking bonus. We will protect him…” Not sure that is still the case. Response on June 21 when the 42 players selected for the World Cup in France (September 8-October 28) were announced.
It also remains to be seen what will become of his club career. And in which club? Because, in the wake of his conviction, the Clermont club, which he should join at the end of the season for three years, announced that he was breaking his contract. “The facts alleged against Mohamed Haouas, and which he has admitted, are unacceptable. Beyond the ethics advocated by our sport and as recalled by the Minister Delegate Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, they are totally incompatible with the respect and values taught and cultivated within the ASM, the school of rugby to the professional team,” ASM said in a statement.
And the Auvergne club added: “By his behavior Mohamed Haouas puts himself in total opposition with our identity and our convictions, and in the state of the elements at our disposal, he will not be able to wear, on the ground, the colors of our club.”
Haouas had yet recently visited the facilities of the ASM and he already had a vehicle in the colors of the Jaunards. Before his client’s conviction, his lawyer Me Gallix feared the worst: “What is terrible is that I have the impression that today (Tuesday), if he is condemned severely, it is a bit over. It will be difficult to bounce back, the Top 14 clubs will not take it back.
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