Christophe Ferron on earning inmates’ respect through football at Condé-sur-Sarthe prison | OneFootball

Former Lorient and Laval centre-back Christophe Ferron has spent 10 years as a sports instructor at high-security Condé-sur-Sarthe prison in Orne, using football to earn inmates’ respect and bring structure to their days.

According to L'Équipe, Ferron never imagined this path, but a footballing friend employed at the prison persuaded him to try, and he eventually accepted.

Now his opponents are convicted killers, rapists and armed robbers. He has crossed paths with Mohamed Amra, Rédoine Faïd and Youssouf Fofana. Detainees tested him at first, then learned about his career and respected him on the pitch.

Weights and treadmill sessions fill the mornings, football takes over in the afternoon. He recalls genuine talent, including in the QPR radicalisation unit where one player had come through Troyes’ academy.

A former coach in National 2 and 3 who succeeded Franck Haise at Stade Mayennais, Ferron leans on man-management. The 2002 Coupe de France winner with Lorient says sport helps inmates vent, calms them, and leaves them too tired to cause trouble.

Now in his fifties, he says he has never felt threatened, yet accepts the risks. A guard once found cartridges in his letterbox, and in 2019 Michaël Chiolo and Hanane Aboulhana stabbed two prison officers in the name of Islamic State.

Ferron says he is happy in the job and hopes to stay until retirement. Among roughly 110 prisoners, some stories have moved him, including a young man who killed in Syria after growing up in a radicalised family. Far from Ligue 1’s glitter, he believes a ball can be one of the few escapes.

Source: L'Équipe

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