2023-06-12 17:12:48
After the tidal wave of Ovale Ensemble, its opposition list, during the by-elections of the steering committee (11 seats out of the 12 that there were to fill among the 40 existing ones) on May 26, Florian Grill, the president of the Ile-de-France League, appears as the great favorite of the election to the presidency of the French Federation which opposes him to Patrick Buisson, member of the current governance chaired by Alexandre Martinez.
The former captain of the Blues Abdelatif Benazzi, one of his main supporters, also elected to the steering committee three weeks ago, decrypts the stakes of this election which takes place from this Monday, June 12 until Wednesday and concerns clubs affiliated to the FFR.
How do you explain the victory in the last elections concerning the steering committee?
ABDELATIF BENAZZI. We came back at 11 whereas we had left at 9 (the members of the opposition had resigned en bloc on January 27 to protest against the continuation of the steering committee after the departure of Bernard Laporte). We have been meeting clubs since 2018. We know their problems. They answered present. There is a feeling of wanting to change things.
How do you see this new ballot to designate a president?
We really hope that Florian Grill will be elected to go on something else, turn a page. For us, there are no personal interests at stake. What is at stake, what interests us, is the vision of French rugby in the next ten years.
There will be general elections at the end of 2024…
Yes, but if we win, we won’t wait to get to work. We want to change things now. There are a lot of projects and there are gray areas, such as the state of finances. We do not know exactly what we will find on this level.
But you will be in the minority on the steering committee. Will you have means of action during this cohabitation?
Some, who are in the majority on the steering committee, no longer recognize themselves in the current governance. They are in a terrible situation. They suffer decisions with which they do not agree. We reach out to them. We need everyone, all goodwill. I think we will have the majority. And everyone will have their place. All the big names in French rugby are welcome, elected or not, they deserve to play a role.
Current governance suggests that cohabitation would be impossible and detrimental for the XV of France just before the World Cup (September 8-October 28).
But that will change absolutely nothing. Moreover, Florian Grill was clear. He will leave Patrick Buisson and his team in charge of everything concerning the World Cup. They are the ones who won the bid. It is normal that they supervise the project until the end. Fabien Galthié, moreover, was much more reasonable, saying clearly that it would not change anything for him. Even if, in the current governance, some extremists try to put oil on the fire, the majority is for appeasement.
Guilhem Guirado, who would be appointed vice-president, in the event of Patrick Buisson’s victory, is put forward as a campaign argument…
I have a lot of respect for the player and the captain of the XV of France that he was. I find it very good that he is committed to French rugby. I just have a concern about the fact that he is becoming radicalized. I’m afraid he will become a puppet, when we need him, his support, his work, his ethics. It’s been four years that, for my part, I have been living all this from the inside and that I see that the most complicated thing, under the current governance, is to remain faithful to one’s convictions.
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