Toulouse’s Zakaria Aboukhlal to train separately from the squad amid allegations of inappropriate remarks made to elected official

Toulouse FC have announced that Moroccan international winger Zakaria Aboukhlal (23) will train separately from the professional squad until further notice. Aboukhlal is accused to have made inappropriate and misogynistic remarks to a Toulouse local government official during the team’s Coupe de France victory celebrations on April 30th. RMC Sport revealed on Monday that a reception took place at Toulouse’s town hall between members of the squad and the city’s officials.

The outlet revealed that, during a speech from head coach Philippe Montanier, the players were reportedly quite rowdy. Laurence Arribagé, deputy mayor of Toulouse in charge of sports, then turned to the players to ask for a bit of quiet. In return, Aboukhlal reportedly fired back with the following: “Where I’m from, women don’t talk to men like that.” Stunned by these offensive and crude remarks, Arribagé reminded Aboukhlal that he was currently in the town hall, “a place of the Republic“. The outlet adds that, shortly after, Aboukhlal confronted Arribagé and asked her to apologize.

Arribagé has confirmed to RMC that she told the players to be quiet, and that they disliked her request. However, she denied the version of events recounted by the outlet – “There’s no story.”

However, RMC Sport maintain their version of the alleged events. And now, the club wants to get to the bottom of it. Toulouse have announced that an internal investigation will take place. Aboukhlal had already sparked controversy recently after refusing to partage in Ligue 1’s anti-homophobia campaign.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval