Since 1990, the date of October 3 has been that of German reunification. In the small world of rugby, she evokes something else today: the French Rugby Federation (FFR) has chosen this day, from August 2019, to elect its next president in 2020. The steering committee has until now maintains the deadline despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
The FFR Ethics and Professional Conduct Committee nevertheless considers that it would be wiser to postpone the poll, to preserve the integrity of the unofficial campaign between Florian Grill, candidate declared for a year, and Bernard Laporte, president in office , who has yet to officially run for a second term. This is apparent from an opinion given on June 19, quoted on 1er July by The chained Duck and also viewed by The world.
The recommendation is in line with Mr. Grill, who had rightly referred the matter to the independent body. The president of the Ile-de-France League, the main opponent of Mr. Laporte, put his campaign and travel on hold during the confinement. At the same time, Bernard Laporte continued to speak as president of the FFR, in particular to promise a plan of aid to amateur clubs.
As it stands, if the FFR management persists in fixing the election for October 3, the Federal Committee for Ethics and Professional Conduct in Rugby notes the "Risk" that Florian Grill disputes the validity of the conduct of the election. He could already bring the matter before the conciliator of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF), then before the court.
"The Federal Committee for Ethics and Professional Conduct in French Rugby considers that it is up to the federal authorities in charge of organizing the election to assess this risk but notes that neutralizing the confinement period, thus pushing back all the more the date of the poll, would undoubtedly make it possible to avoid it. " As the confinement lasted from March 17 to May 11, to neutralize this period would be to postpone the election at least until late November or early December 2020.
Campaign Fees
For the time being, Bernard Laporte declares to Duck chained wait for a new one “Minister of Sports Order” before deciding on a possible change of calendar. However, a ministerial decree issued during the period of containment already authorizes the country's sports federations to organize their elections until April 30, 2021, and no longer until December 31, 2020.
Under the chairmanship of Bernard Foucher, Honorary State Councilor, the Federal Committee on Ethics and Professional Conduct also warns of the risk that Bernard Laporte already mobilizes means of electoral propaganda without declaring himself a candidate. In May, an open letter signed by eleven presidents of regional pro-Laporte leagues already preoccupied Florian Grill. Conversely, the secretary general of the FFR, Christian Dullin, seized the same body after statements made by the president of the league of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, which supports Mr. Grill. Any communication from federal leaders, recalls the opinion of the ethics and professional conduct committee, "Must be neutral and informative and relate to topics of general interest, without reference to the upcoming election".
The committee recommends that “The presentation by a candidate or on his behalf, within the framework of the organization of his campaign, of the assessment of the management of the mandates which he holds or which he held, (…) is the exclusive responsibility of said candidate including if his application is not subsequently formalized. " And therefore, if necessary, that these possible "Campaign expenses" are not the responsibility of the FFR. A federation whose accounts should once again be in deficit: before the next financial general meeting in December, the FFR is already considering a negative result of 7.7 million euros for the current season. Without knowing if, by then, she will have already succeeded in organizing her election or not.
