Soumare Departs Fire for France

• AP, Tuesday, August 25, 2009 3 PM

Bakary Soumare is set to leave the Chicago Fire for French League 1 club Boulogne. Soumare has agreed to a four-year contract, the club said on its Web site Monday.

The 24-year-old Mali defender, who grew up in France before moving to New York in his teens, was named to the MLS' Best IX last year. He had a halftime altercation with Chicago coach Denis Hamlett during a 3-2 loss at Houston on Aug. 9. The club fined both an undisclosed sum, and Soumare never returned to the team after the incident.

Chicago drafted Soumare in 2007 after he played just one year at the University of Virginia. Promoted to Ligue 1 last season, Boulogne is currently seventh with two wins and a loss, three points behind defending champ and leader Bordeaux.

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