Vikash Rao Dhorasoo (born 10 October 1973) is a French former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Dhorasoo spent most of his career with

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, winning

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

twice in 2003 and 2004, and also had a loan at

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

and a spell at

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

, who dismissed him in October 2006. Abroad, he had one year at Italy's

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons ...

where he reached the

2005 UEFA Champions League Final The 2005 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, Europe's primary club football competition. The showpiece event was contested between Liverpool of England and Milan of Italy at the Atatürk Olym ...

, and a spell at

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

where he did not play. Internationally, Dhorasoo earned 18

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

and scored once for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

from 1999 to 2006. He was part of their team that came runners-up at the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Harfleur Harfleur () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It was the principal seaport in north-western France for six centuries, until Le Havre was built about five kilometres (three miles) downstream i ...

near

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

in Normandy, Dhorasoo began his football career with

Le Havre AC Le Havre Athletic Club (; commonly referred to as Le Havre) is a French association football club based in Le Havre, Normandy. The club was founded as an athletics and rugby club in 1872, making Le Havre AC the oldest professional French foo ...

, where he made his debut in a 0–0 draw with

AS Saint-Etienne As, AS, A. S., A/S or similar may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * A. S. Byatt (born 1936), English critic, novelist, poet and short story writer * "As" (song), by Stevie Wonder * , a Spanish sports newspaper * , an academic male voic ...

in August 1993. After five years at Le Havre, he went on to play for

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a men and women's French professional football club based in Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The men play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. Founded in 1950, th ...

in 1998. He had a brief spell at league rivals

FC Girondins de Bordeaux Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux (), commonly referred to as Girondins de Bordeaux ( oc, Girondins de Bordèu) or simply Bordeaux, is a French professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bordeaux in Gironde (de ...

from 2001 to 2002. He won two French

championships with Lyon in 2003 and 2004. In April 2004, Dhorasoo agreed to move abroad to play for Italian club

, on a two-year deal. He was an unused substitute in the

, when Liverpool beat A.C. Milan on penalties, but won a runners-up medal.

Paris Saint-Germain

Dhorasoo moved back to France in 2005, signing for

(PSG). He was part of the PSG squad that won the 2006

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

, as he scored a 25-yard shot in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

and secured the victory against fierce rivals

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

. In September 2006, he criticised manager

Guy Lacombe Guy Hubert Georges Lacombe (born 12 June 1955) is a French football manager and former professional player. Playing career Lacombe was a member of the French squad that won the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. ...

in an interview with '' L'Equipe'', and a month later his contract with PSG was terminated, being the first player to be sacked from a French club since the Professional Footballers Charter was set up in 1973. The reasons listed for dismissal were "His refusal to play for the reserves, his lack of loyalty, also his insubordination, disobedience and his permanent air of provocation".

Livorno

On 3 July 2007,

announced to have signed Dhorasoo with a statement on their official website. However, Livorno rescinded his contract in October of the same year due to differences with the club, before having played. According to club president Aldo Spinelli, he refused to play a game for the youth team to trial his fitness.

International career

While at Lyon, Dhorasoo made his debut for the French national team in a goalless draw against

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

on 27 March 1999. He played another national team match in June 1999, before his national team career went into a five-year

hiatus Hiatus may refer to: *Hiatus (anatomy), a natural fissure in a structure *Hiatus (stratigraphy), a discontinuity in the age of strata in stratigraphy *''Hiatus'', a genus of picture-winged flies with sole member species ''Hiatus fulvipes'' *Globa ...

. Dhorasoo was called up for the French national team for the

2006 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification competition was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South Americ ...

in September 2004, and he represented the country at the

in Germany. After the World Cup, Dhorasoo publicly revealed the time spent in the French squad during the month-long tournament, through a documentary, much to the anger of French national team manager

Raymond Domenech Raymond Manuel Albert Domenech (; born 24 January 1952) is a French football manager and former player. He managed the France national team from 2004 to 2010, reaching the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final. He was dismissed after their elimination from ...

and the

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF; french: Fédération Française de Football) is the governing body of football in France. It also includes the overseas departments ( Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte and Réunion), the over ...

. Dhorasoo was warned against publishing the documentary. He retired from the French national team, saying "I am not interested in playing for Les Bleus any more. It's over." Dhorasoo made 18 national team appearances between 1999 and 2006, scoring a single goal in a 4–0 home win over

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

on 12 October 2005, ensuring a place at the 2006 World Cup.

International goals

Personal life

Dhorasoo is of

Mauritian Mauritians (singular Mauritian; french: Mauricien; Creole: ''Morisien'') are nationals or natives of the Republic of Mauritius and their descendants. Mauritius is a multi-ethnic society, with notable groups of people of South Asian (notably I ...

origin. His ancestors were from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

who migrated to

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

. Vikash's parents and siblings moved to France where Vikash was born as the fourth child. He began university studies in economics before committing to professional football. After his dismissal from PSG in 2006, Dhorasoo became a professional

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

player for Winamax. He quit the game in September 2011 after a defeat at the Partouche Poker Tour in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

. He earned $527,453 in his poker career, and as of November 2020 is ranked 142nd on France's all-time winners. Dhorasoo's favorite music group is

Belle and Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released eleven albums. They are often compared with acts such as The Smiths and Nick Drake. The name "Belle and Sebastian" come ...

and his favorite author is

Jonathan Coe Jonathan Coe (; born 19 August 1961) is an English novelist and writer. His work has an underlying preoccupation with political issues, although this serious engagement is often expressed comically in the form of satire. For example, '' What a ...

. Dhorasoo is married and father of two daughters, born in 2003 and 2005. He has spoken out against

bigotry Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...

and in 2003 he started actively supporting

Paris Foot Gay Paris Foot Gay (abbreviated to PFG) was an amateur, local league Association football, football club from Paris, the capital of France. The team was made up of around 30% homosexual players. It was founded in 2003 and dissolved in 2015. From 2007 ...

, a football club which combats

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

and other discrimination in the sport. Dhorasoo also works actively to fight poverty in countries such as

and has established several programs for it.

Coaching career

In July 2009, he became chairman of French football club

L'Entente SSG The Entente Sannois Saint-Gratien is a French association football team based in the suburb of Saint-Gratien in Paris. The team was founded in 1989 and play in the Championnat National 3, the country's fifth tier of competition. Recent history ...

Honours

Lyon *

: 2002–03, 2003–04 *

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

: 2000–01 *

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the super cups found in many other countries. His ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

Bordeaux *Coupe de la Ligue: 2001–02 AC Milan *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Paris Saint-Germain *

: 2005–06 France *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

runner-up:

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

References

External links

*
PSG profile

Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhorasoo, Vikash 1973 births Living people People from Harfleur Sportspeople from Seine-Maritime Footballers from Normandy French footballers Association football midfielders Le Havre AC players Olympique Lyonnais players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players A.C. Milan players Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players U.S. Livorno 1915 players Ligue 1 players Serie A players France under-21 international footballers France international footballers 2006 FIFA World Cup players Olympic footballers of France Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics French expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy French expatriate sportspeople in Italy French poker players French people of Indian descent French people of Mauritian descent