Until now, she had chosen silence. The town hall of Metz, obviously asked to respond to the comments of Thierry Weizman, published this Thursday in our columns, finally reacted, in the afternoon this Thursday, thus setting up a counter-fire to the very virulent exit of the president of Metz Handball.
After a letter sent to the town hall remained “unanswered”, the leader of the yellow and blue house then chose the press as a means of expression. And he didn’t go there with the back of the spoon: in an open-hearted interview, he judged the new Metz tennis tournament organized in November by the French Federation as “an incredible lack of respect” for his club.
If the mention of a “minor tournament” must have left a bitter taste in the mouths of tennis enthusiasts, aware that being between 50th and 150th place in the world in tennis does not happen in the blink of an eye, its message, in any case, ended up reaching the Place d’Armes.
“No reason to start a war”
In a press release, François Grosdidier, mayor of Metz, insisted on putting the church back… in the middle of the city. First, he asserts, “no, nothing changes for Metz Handball and even less for the other clubs using the Arenas”, since “the Moselle Open has coexisted for a quarter of a century with the Metz Handball season and solutions are found every year. » He adds: “We cannot, at the same time, regret the end of the Moselle Open and oppose this tournament, which is part of the continuity. »
A little more offensive then, the elected official from Metz goes to the net, reminding “that the Arenas belong to the city of Metz” and that “Metz Handball is neither owner nor leaseholder”. It also lists the aid and “support” provided to the legendary women’s handball club: “130,000 euros per year of aid in kind” and “financial aid from the City and the Metropolis increased from 570,000 euros for 2018 to more than 850,000 euros for 2024-2025. »
Finally, he seeks to calm the situation and announces that there is “no reason to start a war between tennis and handball”, promising to “soon bring together all the protagonists who must speak directly to each other and not confront each other publicly. » Game, set… and match?
