In office since the end of 2016, the president of the Federation, re-elected in 2020 for a four-year term, was found guilty of five of the six offenses for which he was prosecuted.
The president of the French Rugby Federation (FFR) Bernard Laporte, sentenced on Tuesday to a two-year suspended prison sentence for corruption and increasingly isolated, does not “don’t see why (he) shouldto leave his post, given that he has appealed the decision, he said in an interview with the Sunday newspaper .
«I’m a legalist: I don’t see why I should leave. This would mean that I recognize the facts for which I am accused. Impossible“, retorts in particular Bernard Laporte in the weekly to those who push him to leave his functions at the head of the FFR. In office since the end of 2016, the president of the Federation, re-elected in 2020 for a four-year term, was found guilty of five of the six offenses for which he was prosecuted, including passive corruption and influence peddling.
Since he appealed the decision of the Paris Criminal Court, his suspended prison sentence, as well as the ban on exercising the activity of president of the FFR for a period of two years, are not immediately enforceable. . But since the judgment, many voices have been raised to ask him to leave, including the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castera, the National Rugby League (LNR) or even the Federal Committee of Ethics and Deontology of the FFR.
“Certain to be innocent”
To all, Bernard Laporte, 58, opposes an end of inadmissibility, in his interview with the JDD. «They have the right to say what they want, I’m sure I’m innocent. In addition, there are statutes, so we respect them. If 30% of clubs and votes call for an extraordinary general meeting, and two thirds of registered voters vote for the resignation of the management committee, then there may be new elections.“, he believes.
Asked about the interview he is to have soon with the minister, Bernard Laporte replies that he knows her “a little» and that he has «nothing against her». «I got it on the phone, I’m going to go see her and we’ll talk. In any case, it does not prevent me from standing for election again“, he says. On Friday, in a three-page letter, the Federation’s federal ethics and professional conduct committee asked the former coach of the XV of France to “withdraw temporarily, as a precaution until a final criminal decision».
«I obviously take his decision into consideration, which will be submitted to the federal office as soon as we can summon him.“, answers Bernard Laporte, questioned on this opinion. According to information from AFP, this federal office must be held by the end of the year holidays.