True Ledge Petit
Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2011 11:30 pmFormer Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit has revealed that success on the pitch brought him in to a world of swinging parties and 'unbelievable debauchery' on rich Arabs' yachts where cocaine was freely available.
The World Cup winner, who played for Arsenal between 1997 and 2000, helping the club to a League and Cup double in 1998, has revealed the potential trappings of a successful footballer in his autobiography 'A Fleur de Peau'.
Petit, who formed a fearsome partnership in the Arsenal central midfield with a young Patrick Vieira, claims that he 'went off the rails' after hitting the heights of fame and adulation in the wake of the national team's World Cup victory on home soil in 1998.
"On my days off I discovered the parallel world of Parisian nights – private soirees, swapping clubs," says Petit.
"They often went on in incredibly luxurious apartments whose owners I didn't even know – but everyone recognised me."
But in a tell-all volume, Petit admits that his dalliances with the opposite sex were not restricted to the French capital.
Even at the Sopwell House hotel in St Albans, Herts, close to Arsenal's training ground, Petit found time to indulge in a spot of relaxation in the games room there.
"This pretty girl came regularly," says Petit. "We had a relationship one day in the snooker room. The next morning, the director and his staff welcomed me with applause.
"He said the room had cameras but reassured me that, as an Arsenal fan, he wouldn’t make the slightest use of it."
Of his time being courted by the high rollers from affluent Arab families a trips to their yachts, Petit maintains that he was not involved in drug taking, but admits it had been made available to him had he been interested.
"They had only top models on board and cocaine everywhere," he says. "I didn’t take any. The wealthy owners had a great time humiliating the young women in the worst of ways."
Petit married actress girlfriend Agathe de la Fontaine in 2000 and during last season appeared on British screens as a match-day pundit for Setanta's Premier League coverage.
After leaving Arsenal Petit had spells with real Madrid and Chelsea before a knee injury forced him to retire from playing in 2005.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... layer.html
The World Cup winner, who played for Arsenal between 1997 and 2000, helping the club to a League and Cup double in 1998, has revealed the potential trappings of a successful footballer in his autobiography 'A Fleur de Peau'.
Petit, who formed a fearsome partnership in the Arsenal central midfield with a young Patrick Vieira, claims that he 'went off the rails' after hitting the heights of fame and adulation in the wake of the national team's World Cup victory on home soil in 1998.
"On my days off I discovered the parallel world of Parisian nights – private soirees, swapping clubs," says Petit.
"They often went on in incredibly luxurious apartments whose owners I didn't even know – but everyone recognised me."
But in a tell-all volume, Petit admits that his dalliances with the opposite sex were not restricted to the French capital.
Even at the Sopwell House hotel in St Albans, Herts, close to Arsenal's training ground, Petit found time to indulge in a spot of relaxation in the games room there.
"This pretty girl came regularly," says Petit. "We had a relationship one day in the snooker room. The next morning, the director and his staff welcomed me with applause.
"He said the room had cameras but reassured me that, as an Arsenal fan, he wouldn’t make the slightest use of it."
Of his time being courted by the high rollers from affluent Arab families a trips to their yachts, Petit maintains that he was not involved in drug taking, but admits it had been made available to him had he been interested.
"They had only top models on board and cocaine everywhere," he says. "I didn’t take any. The wealthy owners had a great time humiliating the young women in the worst of ways."
Petit married actress girlfriend Agathe de la Fontaine in 2000 and during last season appeared on British screens as a match-day pundit for Setanta's Premier League coverage.
After leaving Arsenal Petit had spells with real Madrid and Chelsea before a knee injury forced him to retire from playing in 2005.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... layer.html
