William-Jacques Vainqueur he did not leave his mark in Italy. Having moved to Rome in the 2015/16 season, the former French midfielder – who retired in 2020 – played 16 matches with the Giallorossi shirt, before being sold to Marseille. Today his name is back in the limelight due to an unpleasant affair in which he is involved. A chilling story, because without his knowledge he found himself involved in one of the biggest cases of pedophilia in the history of transalpine football.
As a young man, Vainqueur was noticed by an observer from Nantes, Ahmed Gueninèchewho was sentenced in 2022 to 18 years in prison for rape and sexual assault on a minor: “When they revealed everything to me I was stunned, it was a real shock. They explained to me that he was using my name to achieve his goals with the children. I could never have suspected all this. When my first daughter was born, I put her in his arms,” Vainqueur said in L’Équipe’s long investigation into the case.
Gueninèche, in practice, “exploited” the name of his most important discovery to lure his victims in search of glory in the world of football. A fact that initially led investigators to suspect that the former player was an accomplice. Thus, Vainqueur decided to testify at the trial: “I felt indebted to all the victims. At the trial I recognized a boy I had met during a tournament. A player I remembered very well, who had a strong character. I told him that I was sorry…”.