Former Marseille star Diawara set for trial in car dispute

Digne-les-Bains (France) (AFP) – Former Senegalese international Souleymane Diawara will be tried on October 25 in a case that revolves around a dispute with a car dealer over a Porsche that turned out to be stolen.

The former Marseille star, who is 39, will be tried in Digne-les-Bains, in the southeast of France along with his brother and four others for “complicity in extortion and attempted extortion”.

Diawara, a French title winner with Bordeaux and Marseille, was taken into custody in 2015, suspected of taking the law into his own hands by attempting to recover 50,000 euros ($57,400) from the car dealer who had sold him the stolen vehicle.

According to police sources, Diawara bought the Porsche Cayenne for 48,900 euros in cash, but discovering it was stolen, he and the four others, including his brother Adama, visited the seller’s home in the middle of the night.

The victim said he was “violently jostled” when he opened his door after the men threatened to break it down, a claim Adama Diawara disputed.

The victim claimed Adama and another person, named just as Karim, cornered him in his kitchen.

They are alleged to have threatened the man, whose wife and two daughters were present, but no weapons were used and no-one was hurt in the altercation.

The five men drove away behind the wheel of a BMW taken as a “deposit”, to be returned if they were paid 10,000 euros before April 10, 2015. 

Otherwise, the victim said, they threated to send “bad guys”.

According to the defendants, the visit was peaceful and resulted in an agreement over the BMW, which also proved to be stolen.

They were arrested on April 9. 

At the time, Diawara, a defender, was playing for Nice. He retired from football the following September.

He has sued the car dealer for fraud.