The Montpellier club has formalized the return to its squad, for next season, of international pillar Mohamed Haouas. The right pillar, trained at MHR, left Hérault in the summer of 2022 for Clermont. But the Auvergne club canceled his arrival on July 1, shortly after Haouas’ legal troubles. He then signed up with Biarritz Olympique in Pro D2. Before being sentenced in June 2023 by the Montpellier criminal court to 18 months in prison, nine of which were closed, for a fight dating back almost 10 years, Haouas had in fact already been sentenced in May, by the same court, to sentenced to one year for hitting his wife in front of the shopping center where she works.
In its press release, the Hérault club, champion of France in 2022, indicates that Haouas “will return to GGL Stadium this summer with a one-season contract, conditional on exemplary behavior. As part of its commitment to social reintegration, the MHR will provide additional support to Mohamed Haouas off the field, by collaborating with the Center for the Support of Perpetrators of Domestic Violence (CPCA Sud Occitanie).”
For his part, the international right pillar – who had received two red cards in the France team, each time against Scotland – declared: “I would like to thank the MHR and President Mohed Altrad for reaching out to me and to offer me a new chance where many have turned their backs on me. I owe him a lot to this club and today I feel ready to give back everything he gave me. I have already taken steps, with the help of the club, with a Montpellier association which will help me to work on myself and on the actions that I may have made and that I regret. I am grateful for this opportunity and I will give everything, on and off the field, to vindicate those who trusted me when I needed it most.”
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The MHR, which is fighting this season to remain in the Top 14 (current 13th), underlines that “the history between Mohamed Haouas and the MHR is marked by a significant social dimension. Coming from the Petit Bard district of Montpellier, Mohamed followed an unusual path to become a professional rugby player. Despite Mohamed’s past mistakes, President Mohed Altrad decided to give him a second chance, underlining the club’s commitment to social inclusion and rehabilitation.
This season, Montpellier had a catastrophic start to the season, far from the ambitions displayed by president-owner Mohed Altrad, who was fatal to the Englishman Richard Cockerill, unable to get the club out of the rut. To try to restart the machine, the businessman called on Bernard Laporte, which did not go without controversy, the two men having been condemned for entering into a “corruption pact” (they appealed and will be retried soon). The former president of the FFR then rebuilt, in a quick time, the Montpellier staff around Patrice Collazo, dismissed shortly before by Brive, with Vincent Etcheto (three-quarters), Christian Labit (forwards) and Antoine Battut (touchdown) as deputies.
