The PNF indicates this Wednesday that an investigation has been opened in particular for favouritism, influence peddling and corruption. A search is underway at the headquarters of the organizing committee
One year from its launch, the Rugby World Cup in France finds itself in turmoil. A preliminary investigation was opened in early October into the management of the public interest group (GIP) France-2023, responsible for organizing the Rugby World Cup, the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) said on Wednesday, confirming information from the team.
This investigation was opened for favouritism, influence peddling, corruption and any other related offence, following a joint report from the General Inspectorate of Finance and the General Inspectorate of Education, Sport and research, in particular on the management of the former managing director Claude Atcher, dismissed in mid-October.
Personal expenses, contracts and irregularities at the ticket office
A search is also underway this Wednesday morning at the headquarters of the organizing committee of the competition, in Paris. The investigations were entrusted to the Paris Research Section. According the team, “the criminal investigation is interested in these possible personal costs borne by the GIP 2023, in certain past contracts and also in alleged irregularities related to the ticketing of the 2023 World Cup”.
At the end of June, the sports daily had published a long survey relating the malaise at work due to “management by terror” of the former managing director Claude Atcher. Immediately afterwards, the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra had asked for referral to the Labor Inspectorate as well as to the ethics committee of the GIP, in which the French Rugby Federation (FFR) has a majority (more than 60%) and the minority state.
The submission of the ethics committee’s report this summer, reporting “alarming managerial practices”, had led the Ministry of Sports in early September, in concert with the FFR and the French Olympic Committee, which also sits on the GIP, to lay off Claude Atcher as a precautionary measure pending the investigation by the Labor Inspectorate. . He was finally removed from his position as general manager of the organizing committee on October 11, less than a year before the start of the competition.
In addition, a joint mission from the General Inspectorate of Finance and the General Inspectorate of Higher Education and Research has been working since this summer to, in particular, “analyze the existence of any breaches of economic and financial probity or conflicts of interest” within the GIP. According to the Ministry of Sports, “the report was made by the two inspections on the base” of their interim report.
Update : at 1:08 p.m., with the addition of contextual elements.