Julian Collette. Panoramic
Julien Collette, who replaced Claude Atcher, indicates that the turbulence at the top of French rugby has not tarnished the image of the next World Cup.
The scandals at the head of the French Rugby Federation (FFR) and the organizing committeedid not weigh at all on the image of the World Cupwhich will be organized in France (September 8-October 28, 2023), assured senators on Wednesday, its director general, Julien Collette. Heard by the Culture and Education Committee of the Senate, Julien Collette, who replaced Claude Atcher who landed in the fall for his brutal management, assured that “the pangs that the governance of the committee and (the) French rugby in general have gone through have not weighed at all on the brand imageof the World Cup.
Jacques Rivoal, president since the start of the Public Interest Group (GIP, the FFR having two-thirds and the State being a minority), a structure responsible for organizing the World Cup, assured his side that “the event was stronger than the media “buzz”» linked to the FFR because the GIP is «an independent structure” who has “continued to operate“. Faced with these assertions, several senators, such as Jean-Jacques Lozach (PS) or David Assouline (PS) were skeptical.
Between “45 and 50 million euros” in profits
The president of the FFR, Bernard Laporte, resigned from the presidency following his conviction at first instance for corruption and was replaced on an interim basis by the treasurer Alexandre Martinez. Julien Collette returned to the latest version of the GIP budget presented at the beginning of February, and the updating of expenditure, taking particular account of inflation or increasing security expenditure.
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When it comes to private security, the World Cup will need “6,300 agents in the nine stadiums” In France, “the peak of mobilizationrepresenting the equivalent ofa weekend of Ligue 1 matches” of soccer. It does not requireconcentrate, as may be the case with the Olympic Games, a large number of agents in the same area“. The 2024 Paris Olympics need more than 20,000 agents, mainly in Ile-de-France, and are having trouble finding them.
Still on the subject of security, he explained that they were in contact with the Olympic intelligence center, created for the Paris Olympics, which pointed in priority “cyber risk“. The organizing committeeconcentrate” on “stadium access control system“. A security and cyber operations center “will be createdduring the tournament. Mr. Rivoal repeated that the event would generate between “45 and 50 million eurosof profits, which will be donated to the clubs.