The opposition list Ovale Ensemble, led by Florian Grill, won eleven of the twelve seats on the steering committee of the French Rugby Federation at the end of May. The approximately 1,900 French clubs were in fact called upon to fill twelve seats (out of 40 in total), left vacant after a series of resignations following the sentencing of Bernard Laporte to two years in prison, suspended for having entered into a “corruption pact” with businessman and president of the Montpellier club Mohed Altrad. A conviction for which the former coach of the Blues appealed.
Despite this raid, the opposition remains a minority within the steering committee, which has 40 seats in total. From June 12 to 14, the clubs will again be called upon to vote to designate the new president of the FFR who will complete the unfinished mandate of Bernard Laporte, which runs until the end of 2024. Patrick Buisson, who declared himself a candidate at the end of April , will be opposed to Florian Grill. Serge Blanco and Jean-Claude Skrela, who left to found their own movement, were not elected.
Asked this Wednesday at a press conference, Fabien Galthié, close to Bernard Laporte, said that a change in the management team at the head of the FFR will “absolutely not” change his mission with the XV of France. “Today we are on the pitch and only on the playing field,” he explained. And Raphaël Ibanez, the manager of Blues present at his side, to continue: “Our line has not moved. There is the political time that you all know and that you follow. And then there is the sporting time, the time on the pitch, it is the one in which we put all our energy. Quite simply.”
