Regattta Lottery mishap |31 August 2023

Ian Sidonie

Jean-Luc Sidonie considering taking Round Table Seychelles to court

 Jean-Luc, Ian Sidonie, whose name was announced as the initial star prize winner of the Regatta lottery draw last Sunday, is considering taking the Round Table Seychelles to court to seek compensation for the psychological damage that he claimed was inflicted upon him.

Mr Sidonie spoke to Seychelles NATION yesterday to give his account of this experience and emotional trauma following the lottery mishap.

The part-time employee at GTL Motors, shared his story with evident distress.

Friends and family informed him of his apparent ticket win, but it was not until a trusted friend confirmed it that he began to believe it. In a voice laden with emotion, he revealed, “I had high hopes.

“The star prize was really going to help me out”. The potential to provide for his family, including three children, weighed heavily, according to him.

He narrated how the revelation of the error shattered him mentally, stating the psychological impact was profound, impairing his ability to work as a driver at Seychelles Prison Services.

Forced to take time off for emotional recovery, he exposed his struggles, having to juggle two jobs to make ends meet, including part-time work at GTL Motors.

Mr Sidonie noted a compassionate public response, with an outpouring of sympathy and empathy. He viewed the situation as providence, believing that the prize was a divine intervention to alleviate his difficulties.

Following the incident, Seychelles NATION sought an interview with Round Table Seychelles to seek clarification on the incident. They opted to send a press release instead stating: “The Round Table Seychelles (RTS) and the Regatta50 committee wish to extend their sincere apologies for a miscommunication during the event whereby the incorrect name was mistakenly announced as the star prize winner.”

This was due to miscommunication between the verification team and the MC, however, they wish to clarify that at no point was the winning number in question. “This winning number drawn was on full display on stage and read out publicly.”

The press release further added that “the correct winner (i.e name allocated to the winning number drawn) was announced as soon as the error was noted. The Regatta lottery is strictly controlled in accordance with local regulations and the draw was overseen by representatives for the Seychelles Licensing Authority as well as the Seychelles police. All representatives verified the winning ticket number, associated name and contact information”.

The press release also stated that “RTS further wishes to extend their apologies for any inconvenience caused by this error and wishes to assure members of the public that they will be implementing additional protocols for future draws to avoid this situation reoccurring.”

Citing Alexander Durup, Regatta50 organiser, it added “this weekend was a fantastic success and we deeply regret that the final moments were marred by an unfortunate human error; made in the heat of the moment by a dedicated but very tired Regatta50 team. Still, it is not an excuse but we hope people can understand how something like this can occur.”

“At no point were we in any doubt of what the winning numbers were. We have since extended our personal apologies to the impacted individuals and we thank them for their understanding.”

Meanwhile, expressing his perspective on the mishap, Mr Sidonie lamented that such errors should not occur during live events. He asserted that, if given the choice, his name should never have been called, sparing him the burden he now carries. He underscored the profound impact the “honest mistake” had on both his emotional well-being and financial stability.

Mr Sidonie’s close friend, Ramia Ferley, emphasised the detrimental effects of such incidents on mental health and criticised their unprofessional nature. She expressed her perplexity about the anomaly of the number sequence in the winning numbers and acknowledged the role of public response in bringing attention to the situation. They both expressed the confusion of how the number 1 came before the 0 in the winning numbers. The winner’s number that was called out was 19613.

She stated if it was not for the public backlash from social media or from Mr Sidonie himself, nothing would have been done regarding this.

Mr Sidonie’s endgame is now to bring Round Table to court to seek compensation for the psychological damage that was inflicted upon him. “They told me that they would write a letter to me to apologise but that if I wanted to take it further I would need to write a letter about my grievances to their committee,” he stated.

Mr Sidonie was kind enough to share a recording of the phone conversation which he had with a member of the organisation. During the phone conversation, the person whom he was speaking to stated that “under the law, the number on the machine is what counts.”

The person also explained that it was not up to him to grant compensations or anything of the like, and instead it needs to go through the committee.

A full list of Regatta Lottery winners has been published online and in local publications.

Sunny Esparon