DHundreds of people, including big names in French and Argentine rugby, paid their last respects on Saturday March 26 in Biarritz to Federico Martin Aramburu during his funeral. The majority could not enter the Sainte-Eugénie church, on the seafront, and followed on a giant screen the ceremony in memory of the former Argentinian international (22 selections), twice crowned champion of France with Biarritz Olympique (2005, 2006).
The remains of the man nicknamed “Fédé” entered the church to the sound of the traditional Basque farewell song (“Agur Jauna”, “Farewell to the great man”) and in the presence of his wife, Maria, hung in the arms of her two daughters, Trinidad and Justina. His coffin was carried by former Biarritz Olympique teammates, French internationals Thomas Lievremont and Nicolas Brusque, Argentinian Manuel Carizza and Shaun Hegarty, friend and associate of Aramburu, with whom he was seated in the Parisian restaurant where the tragedy took place.
Other big names in French and Argentine rugby, such as Dimitri Yachvili, Jérôme Thion, Imanol Harinordoquy, Gonzalo Quesada, as well as the presidents of the French Federation Bernard Laporte and the Ligue René Bouscatel were in the bays of the church, like Serge Blanco, former head of the BO The ceremony was celebrated in French and Spanish by Don Arnaud, a Biarritz priest friend of the Aramburu family, who described the deceased as “a man concerned with peace and revolted by injustice” .
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Another tribute scheduled for April 2
In the crowd silently following the mass under a beautiful sun and a big blue sky, some supporters wear the red and white colors of the biarrot rugby club and others the blue and white of the local amateur football club, la Jeanne d ‘Arc Biarritz, where Aramburu played. On the balcony of the nearby town hall, an Argentine flag and the portrait of the ex-rugby player were hung on Saturday. A minute of applause was to be dedicated to him during all the Top 14 matches this weekend while the BO players planned to wear a T-shirt bearing his image during their warm-up and entry on the lawn in Montpellier, where they travel on Saturday.
At the end of the afternoon, a moment of private meditation must take place in a lounge at the Biarritz Olympique stadium, which can accommodate up to 600 people. The soundtrack plans another tribute on April 2 for the reception of Pau. Federico Martin Aramburu was shot dead on March 19 in the early morning after an altercation in a bar-restaurant in central Paris. He died on the spot as a result of his injuries. Two militants from an ultra-right group are suspected of having shot him. One was indicted for “murder” and imprisoned; the other, the main suspect, must soon be handed over to the French authorities after being arrested this week in Hungary.
A young woman, suspected of “complicity in murder”, was also imprisoned. Since his retirement from sport, Aramburu, who had also worn the colors of Perpignan, Dax and Glasgow, had remained living with his family in the Basque Country and had founded a tourism and events company.