Eight players from Jeunesse Sportive de Ouidah spent the night of Thursday 29 June 2023 at the 5th arrondissement police station in Cotonou. After this nightmarish day, the UNFP and COSI-Benin took to the field to resolve the situation.
Deprived of four months' wages, eight JSO players went to the headquarters of "Les Bagnoles", their club's partner company, on Thursday 29 June 2023. The group went to demand for the umpteenth time the payment of salary arrears for all the club's players.They remained at the company gate from 10am to 10pm before the worst happened in the evening.
"They owe us 4 months' wages and 4 unpaid match bonuses"
"We had come to the Bagnoles company to claim our rights. The championship ended on 20 May 2023. They owe us 4 months' wages and 4 unpaid match bonuses. We're housed in Ouidah in an uninhabitable place. There's no water or electricity, and we're having trouble sleeping because there's no food. We tried to meet the club authorities, but they didn't reply.So we decided to come and meet them.The manager had asked us for 72 hours to deal with the situation. After 72 hours, we came back because nothing had improved. We were waiting for the headmistress to come out when they called the police. We were picked up and spent the night at the police station", explained Gilchrist Vanou, goalkeeper for JSO, on the events that led to his arrest.
UNFP and Cosi Benin as fire-fighters
The Union nationale des footballeurs professionnels du Bénin (National Union of Professional Footballers of Benin) also issued a statement regretting the players' arrest. "We deplore the fact that these players find themselves in such a precarious situation, deprived of food and the means to return home. We call on the relevant authorities to take urgent measures to help these players resolve their situation and to ensure that all workers, including sportsmen and women, are paid on time. "A delegation from the UNFPB and the COSI-Benin union, led by its General Secretary, went to the 5th arrondissement police station in Cotonou to demand the players' release.
"They are accused of laying siege to Les Bagnoles at a late hour".
After being interviewed, the eight players regained their freedom at 5:04pm, but were summoned to appear again on Thursday 6 July 2023. "I spoke with the commissioner who had received instructions from the public prosecutor.The agreement was to let them go and to summon them for next Thursday. We criticise them for going to lay siege to 'Les Bagnoles' at a late hour," the secretary general of the COSI-Benin union told Sport News Africa.
Noël Chadaré has announced that he will be meeting all JSO players to discuss the situation. "We have to deplore the living and working conditions of our footballers. I've spoken to the president of JSO, who says he's waiting for subsidies from the state. But I said no, a football team is an industry.We can't wait for the state. We're going to prepare the next steps so that they can take possession of their rights", he assures us.
In Benin, a number of clubs in the professional league have been singled out as insolvent debtors. While the players are starving, the clubs are relying on state subsidies to pay their employees. There is no way out, however, as the subsidies granted to the teams on 28 April are still very much in the dark.
