- A French soccer player has been fired by his club after he admitted stealing his teammate’s $76,000 watch.
- OGC Nice terminated Lamine Diaby Fadiga’s contract on Tuesday.
- “Nice will not accept behaviour that betrays the confidence that unites employees,” an official club statement reads.
- Diaby Fadiga, 18, admitted to stealing it on Instagram, saying he took the item out of “jealousy.”
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A French soccer player has been fired by his club after he admitted he stole his teammate’s $76,000 watch.
Lamine Diaby Fadiga, 18, had his contract terminated by OGC Nice on Tuesday, shortly after he said he stole Kasper Dolberg’s watch during a training session.
“OGC Nice and Lamine Diaby Fadiga parted ways on Tuesday,” an official club statement said.
“Following the theft of Kasper Dolberg’s watch from the professional first team’s changing room, and the subsequent admission of the player, the club decided to cancel its contract with the 18-year-old forward with immediate effect.
"Above and beyond all sporting and financial consideration, OGC Nice cannot and will not accept such behaviour that betrays the confidence that unites all the club's employees and all the members of the Rouge et Noir family."
Dolberg reported the theft to the police last week after noticing his watch had gone missing from the club's changing room, according to ESPN.
An official investigation was opened and Diaby Fadiga said he took his teammate's possession out of jealousy.
"I was unfortunately injured for several months and my return to competitive action was further delayed following a red card I picked up whilst playing for the under-19s," the teenager said in a statement on his official Instagram on Tuesday, as translated by ESPN.
http://instagr.am/p/B3FMfEjA-bx
"That affected me mentally and my difficult situation contrasted starkly the success and aura of Kasper, my teammate. I took it out on him without having any reason to do so, maybe a bit because of jealousy. Instead of trying to battle on the pitch to provide him with competition for places, I reacted stupidly towards him.
"My actions were not taken out of an appetite to gain something from it, but out of disappointment, frustration, and feeling discredited. Of course, I am only 18, but my age excuses nothing.
"I therefore owned up to what I had done to Kasper, Mr [Julien] Fournier, the Director General of the club, Patrick Vieira, my coach and Dante, my captain. One by one, I apologized to each one of them."
Fadiga went on to say he hopes he and Dolberg can put the incident behind them, and that he can find "redemption" on the pitch in the future.
Dolberg is yet to comment.
Nice plays FC Nantes in Ligue 1 on Saturday, October 5.