Turnaround in the Bernard Laporte case. The president of the French Rugby Federation (FFR), sentenced last Tuesday to a two-year suspended prison sentence for corruption, finally agreed to put himself “withdrawn” from office, pending his appeal. A concession that contradicts its position asserted two days earlier. In an interview at Sunday newspaperthe former coach of the XV of France, 58, had affirmed that he «[voyait] not why [il] should” leave his post, as he has appealed his conviction.
Faced with pressure from the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, who had estimated from the judgment made public on December 13 that this conviction was an “obstacle” to the mission of Bernard Laporte at the head of the FFR, the latter does not flinch. The former coach “remain president” of the FFR and will propose to the minister, during a meeting this Thursday, his temporary replacement by a delegate president.
“We will say that it is a first awarenesscomments Amélie Oudéa-Castéra at the microphone of France 2. Now the indentation, […] it is not a notion that is provided for by the texts and by the statutes.” If she respects the presumption of innocence, the minister does not envisage that the 2023 Cup, in France, takes place with a president of a federation under the blow of a conviction.
The minister is not the only one to question the legitimacy of Bernard Laporte. In office since the end of 2016, Bernard Laporte, re-elected in 2020 for a four-year term, was found guilty at first instance on December 13 of five of the six offenses for which he was prosecuted, including those of passive corruption and drug trafficking. ‘influence. It is the ethics committee of its federation, the FFR, which demanded on Friday that Bernard Laporte put himself “withdrawn temporarily, as a precaution until a final criminal decision”.
So many backs are turned to the leader, mired in a conflict of interest with the president of the Montpellier rugby club, Mohed Altrad. Both are sentenced for “corruption pact” linked in particular to the sponsorship of the jersey of the XV of France. Bernard Laporte would have rendered a series of arbitrations for the benefit of the Altrad group after having received from him an envelope of 180,000 euros in March 2017.