the fraud department seized for suspicious contracts awarded by the Federation

The Ministry of Sports has seized the General Directorate for Competition and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF) about certain contracts awarded by the French Rugby Federation (FFR), we learned from the ministry on Friday.

«Following a report sent to the ministry at the end of January concerning contracts awarded by the French Rugby Federation, the minister (Amelie Oudea-Castera, editor’s note) asked the Sports Department to seize the DGCCRF (Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention) so that an investigation is carried out concerning in particular compliance with the rules of competition“, assured the ministry, confirming information from L’Equipe. “The DGCCRF has just been seized in this regard“, specifies the ministry. Neither the nature nor the amounts of these contracts suspected of being marred by irregularities have been specified.

This referral comes after the resignation last Friday of Bernard Laporte from his post as president of the FFR, following his conviction a month earlier to a two-year suspended prison sentence for having tied a “bribery pactwith the businessman and president of the Montpellier club, Mohed Altrad. Mr. Laporte appealed his conviction. The Ministry also reservesthe possibility“, according to the first conclusions of the investigation of the DGCCRF, to trigger “an inter-inspection mission of the IGESR and the IGF on the budgetary and financial management of the Federation».