The China Mail - French rugby in turmoil as Laporte gets suspended sentence over corruption

Laporte, 58, was convicted after the court ruled he showed favouritism in awarding a shirt sponsorship contract for the national side to Mohed Altrad, the billionaire owner of Top 14 champions Montpellier.

He was also banned from holding any rugby post for two years, but this is suspended pending an appeal which Laporte's lawyer said was imminent.

Laporte is also vice-chairman of the sport's global governing body, World Rugby, who issued a statement following the judgement and are to hold a meeting later Tuesday to discuss the matter.

"World Rugby notes the decision of the French court to sentence Federation Francaise de Rugby (FFR) president and World Rugby vice-chairman Bernard Laporte on corruption charges which relate to domestic matters," the statement read.

"The World Rugby Executive Committee will convene tonight to determine the next steps in accordance with the international federation’s Integrity Code. A further update will be made following the meeting."

Laporte faces problems on the domestic front, too, with Florian Grill, who narrowly lost to him in the 2020 election for federation chief, calling for him and the entire board to stand down.

"It is unheard of in rugby, this is an earthquake," he told AFP.

"We have never before seen a president of the federation condemned to two years in prison, even if it suspended.

"We think the 40 members of the board of directors should draw the obvious conclusions and resign."

The court found that Laporte ensured a series of marketing decisions favourable to Altrad -- who was given an 18-month suspended sentence and 50,000 euro fine -- in exchange for a 180,000 euro ($191,000) image licensing contract that was never actually carried out.

Altrad's lawyer said he would study the decision before deciding on whether to appeal.

At the trial's close in September, prosecutors said they were seeking a three-year prison sentence for Laporte, of which he should serve one behind bars, and the two others on probation.

The two men's friendship and business links are at the heart of the case.

It goes back to February 2017, when they signed a deal under which Laporte, head of the FFR, agreed to appear in Altrad group conferences, and sold his image reproduction rights, in return for the 180,000 euros.

But while that sum was indeed paid to Laporte, prosecutors claim that he never actually provided the services he signed up for.

- Suspect deals -

Laporte did, however, make several public statements backing Altrad and, in March 2017, signed a 1.8-million-euro deal with the businessman making his namesake firm the first-ever sponsor to appear on the French national team's jerseys.

Even now, Altrad's logo features on the shirts thanks to a follow-up deal negotiated by Laporte in 2018 and which prosecutors say bears all the hallmarks of corruption.

Laporte, formerly a highly successful coach who guided France twice to the World Cup semi-finals (2003 and 2007), was also found guilty of favouritism with regards to Altrad's Montpellier Herault Rugby (MHR) club.

He was convicted for intervening with French rugby's federal disciplinary commission to reduce a fine against MHR to 20,000 euros -- it was originally 70,000 euros -- after several telephone calls from Laporte.

While prosecutors saw this and several more incidents as proof of illicit favouritism, Laporte himself had claimed there was no "cause-effect relationship".

On the last day of the trial in October, Laporte's lawyer Fanny Colin accused the prosecution of "confirmation bias" by "taking into account only elements backing their original assumptions".

The verdict comes only nine months before the Rugby World Cup kicks off in France on September 8, 2023, with matches played in nine stadiums across the country.

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P.Deng--ThChM