“Mr. Laporte, be consistent and exemplary”: an open letter demanding the resignation of the President of the FFR

Bernard Laporte, President of the Federation, was sentenced on Tuesday by a Paris court to two years of suspended imprisonment, a €75,000 fine and a two-year ban on any activity, even voluntary, in connection with rugby. He appealed the decision, and his lawyer, Me Versini, said he intended to remain in office. Since then, there have been increasing calls for his resignation and new elections.

Forum text

An open letter to Mr. Laporte and ladies and gentlemen to the members of the Board of the French Rugby Federation.

Big deadlines for French rugby are approaching. In eight months, France will host a global event – the Rugby World Cup. Our French team shines with a thousand lights, and behind it we are one with you. The Olympic and Paralympic Games will take place in 2024. And soon the future of the Stade de France will be played out.

At the end of a long five-year procedure, you were convicted in the first instance. We do not comment on either the court decision or the right to self-defense. But apart from the texts, apart from the courts, today more than ever we doubt your legitimacy. Without aggressiveness, but with responsibility for both rugby and the country.

This legitimacy is based not only on respect for the mandate given to you by the votes of over 1,900 clubs that play rugby every day, but also on the impeccable ethics and respect for the values ​​championed by thousands of volunteers and layoffs.

At the forefront of these core values ​​in regards to the public service delegation that falls to you and the nurturing role you have been given: to lead by example. As you know, the captain of the team more than others should be exemplary. Exemplary in combat, in behavior and observance of the rules. Throughout your tenure, you have repeatedly stated your commitment to greater democracy in rugby. You even called on the clubs to vote for the choice of a foreign coach who will lead the French national team.

A few days ago, because you are following the rules of ethics and good governance at the global level, you relinquished your World Rugby mandate. Mr. Laporte, be consistent, be exemplary and responsible. Since France cannot be a poor relative of ethics, do in France what you did in World Rugby.

Mr. Laporte, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Steering Committee, since democracy and the opinion of the clubs remain the foundation of our Federation, give the floor to the clubs and take their decision by organizing general elections, promises of appeasement and gathering. Clubs will then be able to grant new legitimacy to the members of the Steering Committee and their President based on clear ethical obligations and impeccable values.

With this restored legitimacy, the FFR will once again be a trusted interlocutor in the organization of the World Cup, French teams will remain calm and protected, and amateur clubs will be able to develop around solid and shared values. For the sake of our rugby, its image, its volunteers and licensees, for the sake of a peaceful and unified rugby, very quickly give the floor to the clubs.

List of signatories

Fabien Pelou (former captain of the French national team); Abdelatif Benazzi (former captain of the French national team); Patrick Wolf (Former President of the National Rugby League and former President of the Association of Leagues); Julien Pierre (former international player); Yannick Bru (former national team player and coach of the XV French national team, coach of the Sharks in South Africa); Claudia Rouault (Deputy Ille et Villaine – Rapporteur on Budget Opinion Sports, Youth, Public Life); Valerie Rabot (deputy for Tarn and Garonne – vice-president of the National Assembly); Arthur Delaporte (Member of Parliament for Calvados); Anna Peak (deputy from the channel); Olivier Hennot (Senator from the North); Joel Giraud (Member of Parliament for the Hautes-Alpes – former Minister for Territorial Unity and Relations with Local Authorities); Celine Calves (MP for Hauts-de-Seine); Emmanuel Pellerin (Deputy of Hauts de Seine – Secretary of the Commission for Culture and Education); Prisca Thevenot (Member of Parliament for the Upper Seine); Pierre Henrie (MP for the Vendée); Ludovic Mendes (MP for Moselle); Christine Descodts (MP for the North); François Cormier-Bouljon (MP for Cher); Bruno Studer (deputy for the Lower Rhine – former chairman of the Committee for Culture and Education); Quentin Lagallard (Regional Councilor of Normandy); Romain Grau (former Deputy – Counselor of the Department of the Pyrenees-Orientales); Alain Fontanel (municipal councilor of Strasbourg and Eurometropolis Strasbourg); Laurent Saint-Martin (former MP, regional councilor of Île-de-France); Régis Juanico (Honorary Deputy of the Loire, member of the SA Observatory of Public Ethics); Jean-Charles Cola-Roy (former MP for Ysere – Municipal Councilor of Saint-Martin-d’Hyères); Marie-Christine Verdier-Joucla (former MP for Tarn); Sylvain Templier (former MP for Haute-Marne); Jean-Bernard Sempasto (former deputy of the Hautes-Pyrenees); Jean-Philippe Asensi (President of the Agency for Education through Sports); Quentin Bataillon (Deputy of the Loire).