Stade Briochin Forced to Train Blindfolded Against Angoulême's Shadow Side
Ligue regional officials ordered Stade Briochin to rehearse every defensive pass with the lights off after the club was judged too gentle against the league leaders.
Stade Briochin has moved its entire training week to a disused warehouse on the outskirts of Saint-Brieuc, where players now rehearse tackling in total darkness, the regional federation confirmed on Monday.
The measure followed Saturday's match against the leaders of National 1, in which Angoulême won 1-0 in a game that the federation described as "closed, and in our view far too polite." A federation inspector, Gérard Lombart, said the home side had shown "a dangerous reluctance to make contact," and that the club's midfielders had been observed apologising to opponents during routine passes.
Under the new regime, every defender must now spend forty minutes a day in a windowless hall with black tape over the goal lines, shouting the position of the ball before touching it. Goalkeepers train with their eyes closed, and the club's physiotherapists have been reassigned to act as opposing forwards, a role the club says they accepted without complaint, though several were seen pulling their hamstrings in protest.
The club's president, Yannick Derrien, said the warehouse had been chosen because it could hold two full pitches and a vending machine. He added that supporters would be invited to watch the sessions through a small gap in the door, "so that they too may learn what it is to be a little less kind."
The federation has set a review for next month, when the squad will be required to play a friendly against a team of retired firefighters, on the condition that no one apologises.
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