Elected on June 14, to the position occupied until the end of January by Bernard Laporte, the former president of the Ile-de-France League explained that he had “tightened” the federal office to twelve members, against 16 previously: seven belong to his group “Ovale ensemble” and five are from the former governance. Former treasurer, Alexandre Martinez, appointed interim president after the resignation of Laporte, is now in charge of finalizing the Mondial-2023 (September 8 – October 28) in France.
Two former great players enter the federal office, which will now meet weekly: Jean-Marc Lhermet recovers the post of vice-president in charge of high performance after the resignation this week of the former right-hand man of Laporte, Serge Simon , and Abdelatif Benazzi has been appointed deputy vice-president for international affairs. “We are building a project over eight to ten years,” said the new president, who wants rugby, the second most popular sport in France but only in tenth position in terms of licensees (324,326 in May 2023, Editor’s note), is developing further.
What will be obtained, according to him, by a greater territorial mesh as well as the passage of the FFR in “federation with missions”, in order “to attract new volunteers” thanks to the “values” conveyed by rugby and for ” give meaning to our commitment”. Florian Grill also discussed the renewal of the Stade de France concession, where the Blues play their international matches, and for which he wants the FFR to be able to “position itself in a round table”, even if “a decision as to a possible participation is correlated to our budget”.
The new Federal Office
Florian Grill: PresidentAlexandre Martinez: Deputy President, in charge of the World CupSylvain Deroeux: General SecretaryVirginie Deprince: Deputy General SecretaryClaude Helias: General TreasurerJoël Tomakpleconou: Deputy General TreasurerJean-Marc Lhermet: Deputy Vice-President in charge of high level and arbitrationBrigitte Jugla: deputy vice-president in charge of women’s rugbyXabi Etcheverry: deputy vice-president in charge of competitionsSébastien Carrez: deputy vice-president for territorialityAbdelatif Benazzi: deputy vice-president for international affairsMarion Kellin: deputy vice-president to rugby training and schools