RUGBY The prosecution requested three years in prison, one of which is firm, against Bernard Laporte and called for a two-year ban on him from holding office in rugby
Bernard Laporte, president of the French Rugby Federation, June 5, 2021 (illustration). — Mourad ALLILI/SIPA
The verdict on the suspicions of corruption that are rocking French rugby will be known on Tuesday. The Paris Criminal Court will indeed render its judgment at; against the president of the federation Bernard Laporte and Mohed Altrad, club boss of the Top 14 and jersey sponsor of the Blues.
Expected around 1:30 p.m., the decision is awaited. e with feverishness by l’Ovalie at less than a year from the World Cup in France, the organizational conditions of which are at the heart of a separate investigation opened in October, notably for corruption.
Against the two leaders, who dispute the facts, the prosecution requested three years of imprisonment, including one firm, and called to prohibit for two years from Bernard Laporte to exercise a function in rugby and to Mohed Altrad, CEO of the eponymous construction giant, to run a company. “They damaged honesty surrounding French rugby,” the prosecution during the trial in September. Three other defendants, including the deposed boss of the organization of the Mondial-2023 Claude Atcher, will also be fixed on their fate in this case at the moment. drawers opened in 2017.
The image of the FFR at stake
Prosecuted in total for six offences, Bernard Laporte plays, beyond; of his legal situation, his image and that of the French Federation (FFR) which he has chaired since the end of 2016 and which is today entirely focused on the next World Cup (8 September-October 28, 2023). At the helm, the former coach of the French XV had to explain a series of arbitrations rendered in 2017-2018 in favor of his friend Mohed Altrad, with whom he had signed. a paid confidential image contract; 180,000 euros, with no clearly identified counterpart.
Linked; by what the prosecution considers to be a “corruption pact”, Bernard Laporte would have favored the businessman, in particular by granting the Altrad group the very first jersey sponsorship in the history of the Blues at the end of a winding process which had offended the historical partners of the XV tricolor. The French rugby boss would also have intervened in 2017 at several times in support of the interests of the Montpellier club, owned by of Mohed Altrad, in particular to alleviate the disciplinary sanctions aimed at him.