PARIS (AP) — The president of the French Rugby Federation, Bernard Laporte, resigned on Friday to avoid further complicating France’s preparations to host this year’s Rugby World Cup.
In December, a Paris court found Laporte guilty of passive corruption, influence peddling, illegal taking of interest and misuse of corporate assets.
Laporte was suspended from FFR duties while fighting his two-year suspended sentence on the corruption charges. But his candidate for interim president, Patrick Buisson, was rejected by French rugby clubs in a close vote on Thursday.
L’Equipe newspaper first reported that Laporte resigned during a meeting of the FFR executive committee with French sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra on Friday morning.
The Sports Ministry told the Associated Press that Oudéa-Castéra was informed of Laporte’s resignation upon her arrival at the meeting. The FFR did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Oudéa-Castéra welcomed Laporte’s decision, saying it was “necessary” following the clubs’ vote.
“Bernard Laporte has drawn conclusions, which is good for French rugby, for its values and for the future,” Oudéa-Castéra was quoted as saying by French media.
He recommended the resignation of the entire executive committee to hold new general elections.
His opinion was backed by the French rugby league (LNR), whose two representatives on the executive committee resigned on Friday to distance themselves from the previous regime. The LNR called for a review and new elections within six weeks to “bring some appeasement to French rugby”.
Laporte was the France coach between 1999 and 2007, winning the Six Nations four times. He then coached the southern club Toulon from 2011 to 2016, winning three European Cups.
He became FFR Chairman at the end of 2016 and World Rugby Vice Chairman in 2020. He has retired from his World Rugby role.
In another case, he was detained for questioning by police on Tuesday in connection with suspicions of tax-related irregularities being investigated by France’s national prosecutor for financial crimes.
Laporte was previously sentenced in a conflict of interest case involving Mohed Altrad, owner and president of the Montpellier rugby club.
In 2017, Laporte denied allegations that he lobbied the FFR’s appeals board to reduce sanctions against Montpellier. After a three-month investigation, the French sports ministry said Laporte’s intervention with the president of the appeals board resulted in commission members reducing a fine against Montpellier from 70,000 euros ($76,000) to 20,000 euros ( $21,800) and the cancellation of a one-game stadium. prohibition.
Altrad, a billionaire and close friend of Laporte, sealed a partnership with the FFR to become the first jersey sponsor of the Tricolores in 2018. The FFR said at the time that its ethics committee considered that the sponsorship deal did not generate a conflict of interest. The Altrad group was the only bidder.
In another recent blow to France’s prestige, former World Cup organizing chief executive Claude Atcher was sacked last year following an investigation by French labor inspectors into his workplace conduct.
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