At the end of last week, the football team Eglantins de Hendaia told its members the expulsion of one of their coaches for having suffered a judicial conviction "incompatible with their activity". Antxeta Irratia found that in January 2022 he worked as a coach in the French region of Vendée and in his house he caressed an 11-year-old boy's penis until he stopped him. At three months the child told his mother the attack and the mother filed a complaint.

However, without conviction, a 21-year-old man moved to live in Hendaia and was hired by the Hendaia Consistorial House. He has worked in Hendaia since October 2022, both for the football club and for the Casa Consistorial.

In late September 2022, the branch of the Atlantic Pyrenees of the French Football Federation announced that along with four other young people in the department was passing the Brebeta Football Monitor, learning. This title allows, among other things, to work with children under 8 years of age, and is a UEFA B licence. The Eglantins team was in charge of players under 15 during this course.

On 11 December 2023, the La Roche Sur Yon court sentenced eight months in prison to a fine of €3,800 and imposed a ban on working with minors, according to local newspaper Le Journal du Pays Yonnais. The same source determines that man accepted the aggression, but reports that he is not attracted to children and has claimed that he is not a paedophile.

The Eglantins team and the Hendaia Consistorial House were aware of the sanction at the end of last week and expelled the worker, who also resigned at the same time. Neighbour Kotte Ezenarro has stated in a letter to the parents of the Leisure Centre that since 4 January she has not been working with children.

Childcare in Hendaia

The Casa Consistorial and the Eglantins group maintain contacts with the association "Colosse aux pieds d'Argile", which supports children assaulted in the sport world. Thus, over the next few days, both entities have explained that minors who have had contact with the sanctioned man will have safe spaces for psychological support and reflection.