On the Riolo Club, Fiorèse opens up about the 2012 assault and kidnapping at his home. How could a trusted teammate become his captor?
Three years after retiring following an anonymous stint at Troyes, the case hit the headlines. In September 2012, masked gunmen stormed Fiorèse’s house in Salins‑les‑Thermes, Savoie, and robbed him at gunpoint.
He recalls three attackers brandishing pump‑action shotguns. “I fought to survive, trying to shield my family inside. They dragged me to the ground, treated me like an animal, shot me and threw me into a car. I struggled, kept my family’s safety in mind, then they seized me,” he said.
“They forced me into the back seat and I thought, ‘Either I escape or I’ll never see my family again and I’ll die,’” Fiorèse continued.
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Trapped in the vehicle at age 37, he managed to smash the rear window with his boot and fling himself out at 60‑70 km/h, landing on the pavement. “It was pure survival instinct,” he explained, “I had the strength to break the glass and jump before hitting the highway.”
“I had a finger cut off, they tried to slice my carotid.” Will such betrayals ever be fully prevented?
After shaking off his abductors, the former OL youth fled but struggled to get help. “I suffered a severed finger, they tried to cut my carotid, blood everywhere. Cars passed by without stopping. I forced myself into the road, flagging a van that finally took me to the hospital and then the police,” he recounted.
Investigators found the three men knew Fiorèse had just received a large cash sum from a property deal. The mastermind was identified as Ghislain Anselmini, his former OL teammate and close friend. “He kept calling, pretending to care. The cruelty was staggering,” Fiorèse said, adding that the men he hired were desperate and in dire need of money.
He concludes, “No one deserves such horror, not even my worst enemy. It’s frightening how often betrayals come from friends, family, or fame itself.”
Ghislain Anselmini, now SC Toulon coach, received five years in prison; Mohamed Goussairi and Mohamed Salhi were each sentenced to ten years; Radouane El Maryouch got a one‑year suspended term, while Riad Aznag was acquitted.