Bernard Laporte, president of the Federation was sentenced on Tuesday by the Paris court to a two-year suspended prison sentence, a 75,000 euro fine and a two-year ban on any activity, even voluntary, in connection with rugby. He appealed against this decision and his lawyer Me Versini announced that he was going to remain in office. Since then, calls for his resignation and the holding of new elections have multiplied.
The text of the forum
“Open letter to Mr. Laporte and to ladies and gentlemen the members of the Management Committee of the French Rugby Federation.
Big deadlines are coming up for French rugby. In eight months, France is hosting a global event with the Rugby World Cup. Our French team shines with a thousand lights and we are united with you behind it. In 2024 the Olympic and Paralympic Games will take place. And soon the future of the Stade de France will be played out.
At the end of a long procedure of five years, you were convicted at first instance. We do not comment on the court decision, nor on the right to defend yourself. But beyond the texts, beyond the courts, today more than ever we question your legitimacy. Without aggressiveness but in responsibility both for rugby and for the country.
This legitimacy is based not only on respect for the mandate given to you by the votes of more than 1,900 clubs that practice rugby on a daily basis, but also on irreproachable ethics and respect for the values upheld by thousands of volunteers and dismissed.
At the forefront of these essential values with regard to the delegation of public service that falls to you and the educational role that you are assigned: setting an example. As you know, the captain of a team, more than the others, must be exemplary. Exemplary in combat, in behavior and in respect of the rules. Throughout your term of office, you have repeatedly expressed your commitment to more democracy in rugby. You even called for the vote of the clubs for the choice of a foreign coach to lead the France team.
A few days ago, because you comply with rules of ethics and good governance at the global level, you gave up your mandate within World Rugby. Mr. Laporte, be consistent, be exemplary and be responsible. Because France cannot be the poor relation of ethics, do in France what you did at World Rugby.
Mr. Laporte, ladies and gentlemen members of the Steering Committee, because democracy and the opinion of the clubs remain the foundation of our Federation, give the floor to the clubs and accept their decision, by organizing general elections, pledges of appeasement and of gathering. The clubs will then be able to grant a new legitimacy to the members of a Management Committee and to their President, on the basis of clear ethical commitments and irreproachable values.
With this regained legitimacy, the FFR will once again be a trustworthy interlocutor for the organization of the World Cup, the French teams will remain serene and protected, and amateur clubs will be able to develop around solid and shared values. For our rugby, its image, its volunteers and its licensees, for a peaceful and united rugby, give the floor to the clubs, very quickly. »
Fabien Pelous (former captain of the France team); Abdelatif Benazzi (former captain of the France team); Patrick Wolff (former President of the National Rugby League and former President of the association of leagues); Julien Pierre (former international player); Yannick Bru (former international player and coach of the XV of France, coach of the Sharks in South Africa); Claudia Rouaux (deputy for Ille et Villaine – rapporteur for the opinion of the budget Sport, youth, community life); Valérie Rabault (MP for Tarn et Garonne – Vice-President of the National Assembly); Arthur Delaporte (MP for Calvados); Anna Pic (MP for the Channel); Olivier Henno (senator from the North); Joël Giraud (MP for Hautes-Alpes – former Minister for Territorial Cohesion and Relations with Local Authorities); Céline Calvez (MP for Hauts-de-Seine); Emmanuel Pellerin (deputy for Hauts de Seine – secretary of the commission for cultural affairs and education); Prisca Thevenot (MP for Hauts de Seine); Pierre Henriet (MP for Vendée); Ludovic Mendes (MP for Moselle); Christine Descodts (MP for the North); François Cormier-Bouligeon (MP for Cher); Bruno Studer (MP for Bas-Rhin – former Chairman of the Committee for Cultural Affairs and Education); Quentin Lagallarde (regional councilor of Normandy); Romain Grau (former deputy – departmental councilor for the Eastern Pyrenees); Alain Fontanel (municipal councilor of Strasbourg and at the Eurometropolis of Strasbourg); Laurent Saint Martin (former MP, regional councilor for Île-de-France); Regis Juanico (Honorary Deputy of the Loire, member of the CA of the Observatory of Public Ethics); Jean-Charles Colas-Roy (former MP for Isère – municipal councilor for Saint-Martin-d’Hyère); Marie-Christine Verdier-Jouclas (former MP for Tarn); Sylvain Templier (former MP for Haute-Marne); Jean-Bernard Sempastous (former deputy for the Hautes Pyrénées); Jean Philippe Acensi (President of the Agency for Education through Sport); Quentin Bataillon (deputy of the Loire); Jean Jacques Lozach (Senator for Creuse – Draftsman of the Sports budget); Olivier Pouligny (RC Suresnes Chairman); Denis Jeanneau (Vice-President of Grand Dole Rugby); Pierre Closcavet (Grand Dole Rugby Secretary); Hervé Portigliatti (Vice-President of FC Sanclaudien); Patrick Jacques (Secretary Censeau Rugby Club); Michel Brune (President of the US Arbousienne and of the Departmental Committee 39); Thibault Davy (Chairman of Acigné); Vincent Sevaistre (President Sèvres Chaville Rugby); Hugo Dorandeu (Olympic President of Besançon); Brigitte Bordet (President Union Sportive Clunisoise); Bertrand Manière (President Chambertin Olympique); Jérôme Bousquet (President of Paris University Club); Jean-Baptiste Alnot (President ACBB Rugby, Boulogne-Billancourt).
