We are less than a month away from the elections, do you think that the affairs (1) which have marked the summer of French rugby will be the key?
No. First, on business, the club presidents are very united because they know that they too have a kind of sword of Damocles hanging over their shoulders. Then, they talk to us about everyday problems and not about events that have taken place.
Even if it is not a decisive element, we cannot deny that what happened in Mendoza and then the Medhi Narjissi tragedy damaged the image of French rugby with the general public and your partners…
It is a certainty, and I am not going to try to hide the truth. Since we are talking about these subjects, I first have a thought for the Narjissi family and for Medhi. But yes, it has not done any good for the image of rugby and what we want to explain is that rugby is not necessarily that. That there are also rugby schools that do a crazy job, that there are volunteers who welcome people of all origins, who work in rural areas and in neighborhoods. But yes, rugby is not immune to the problems of society, it suffers the same torments. But the Medhi Narjissi case is a different issue.
Do you regret the way you handled the disappearance of Medhi Narjissi and the communication with his parents?
It is very difficult to find the right way to deal with the anger and pain of a family. I thought they did not want to see me. I regret having misunderstood and I apologized to them. Then, I could not leave immediately for South Africa. We set up a crisis unit, there were thirty minors to repatriate and many things to do at the same time: relations with the embassy and the consulate, the psychological unit, sending Jean-Marc Béderède, the deputy DTN.
You said that you were not considering any sanctions for Auradou and Jegou if they were acquitted. Do you think they were punished enough?
For Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou, we will see what the Argentinian justice system decides in this case of alleged rape. If there is a conviction, I cannot imagine that there will not also be a sanction. If they are found innocent, the question will therefore be: should they be sanctioned for this night out? My basic thinking is that many players went out. Melvyn Jaminet was not sanctioned for his outing but for racist remarks that are unacceptable when wearing the French team jersey. If I had to sanction, we would have to do another investigation to identify all the players and members of the management who went out. The truth is that for years in rugby we have tolerated a certain number of things. This has happened under all the presidencies. I want to deal with the future. We need to put in place a strict framework, for the players as well as for the staff, with financial and sporting sanctions.
There was one frame. The captain had said: “everyone go back”. There is a rule that was broken.
I don’t know everything about what happened. More than three players left. Tongues were loosened. The hotel cameras showed that there were late returns. I don’t think it’s right that we’re going to be on the roof in the middle of a tour. I don’t want to be the bad accountant of the past on a festive evening that is the umpteenth festive evening. The framework was what it was at the time, that is to say a framework based on autonomy and accountability. It doesn’t work. It has to change.
“The third half is in our DNA. What I don’t want is the fourth and fifth halves.”
During the tour, the opposition pointed out the absence of a tour manager, for financial reasons. How do you justify the absence of Raphaël Ibanez who still has the title of manager?
First, there was a head of delegation called Bernard Viviès. He brought Melvyn Jaminet. It could have been Raphaël Ibanez. His presence would not have changed anything. That the organization needs to be reviewed is a certainty. We only deal with issues properly by telling the truth, by establishing the right diagnoses. Not by sweeping the dust under the carpet.
Will Marcoussis become “Marcatraz” again? What kind of living environment do you want to create?
I am not a prison guard. Rugby must accept the third half. It is in our DNA. What I do not want is the fourth and fifth halves. We cannot have nutritionists, aim for the very highest level, be very well paid and, at the same time, not understand that we are no longer in amateur rugby. We have a duty to set an example to the 360,000 members, the 60,000 volunteers who explain to parents that in rugby, we learn respect. We cannot live off the money of partners who are attentive to issues of racism, respect for women and say, we don’t care, we’re partying. I really liked the words of Didier Lacroix, during the Estates General, who said: 30 years ago, some people thought it was ridiculous to want to eradicate the culture of fighting in rugby. We made it.
So you are going to put in place controls against drugs but also alcohol?
This will be part of the measures taken as part of the Estates General where all the families were represented. There will be awareness, prevention, but also controls and sanctions. We are in the process of specifying the legal framework for controls in clubs, in the French team. Fabien Galthié is involved in this. We have a duty to set an example. My vision of rugby is that we are not only responsible for sport, we are also responsible for men. Cocaine is not festive. Cocaine kills.
“It’s not about infantilizing them but about making them responsible”
Isn’t it contradictory to expect players to be decision-makers on the pitch and infantilize them off it?
It is not about infantilizing them but about making them responsible. It is about them opening their eyes to the fact that there is an entire ecosystem that depends on them. I have seen the tarnished image of rugby with all the consequences that this can have, with partners, spectators who turn away from our sport. We must tighten the screw, there is no choice. We will do it without a trembling hand.
Since you took over, you have had one line of communication, which is to talk about the alarming financial situation of the FFR. And yet you had kept Alexandre Martinez, the previous treasurer, on the steering committee. Why?
This is not communication. It is a duty of truth. Alexandre Martinez, the day after my election, had the merit of drawing my attention to delicate points. At the congress in Poitiers, he expressed a different view of the accounts. Unfortunately, the figures do not lie. He resigned the day after the KPMG firm’s diagnosis. This audit states that the Federation’s equity is 29 million euros. The federation’s cash flow is 69 million euros, but of this sum, 49 million corresponds to the insurance fund dedicated to major injuries. The net cash flow is therefore 20 million euros. The 2023 World Cup lost 35 million euros. However, as we are 55% shareholders of the GIE, that is 19 million in losses. And one day, we will have to pay for them. I do not understand how this subject can be debated. The figures are the figures. Not telling the truth to clubs is guilty. And I’m not even talking about other issues like Le Coq Sportif who owes us 5.3 million euros.
The opposition is protesting against the fact that you have threatened the company with liquidation proceedings.
It’s surreal. There is a company that owes 5.3 million euros to the Federation and that is not respecting the debt repayment plans. Should we do nothing on the pretext that it could put it in difficulty while we are in difficulty? When you are a member of the board of directors, your responsibility is first and foremost to protect the employees of the FFR and the clubs. So we have filed a summons for compulsory liquidation. Yes, it is pressure. But it is good pressure. I am the boss of an SME, not a politician. I manage the FFR with the resources that are mine. It would be a management error to let this happen.
Didier Codorniou also accused you of being behind the information from L’Équipe on the two ongoing investigations concerning him as mayor of Gruissan. Any comments?
No. The campaign has always been clean on my side. I have never attacked people. I had not done it in front of Bernard Laporte. So to suspect that I could be behind this… No.
“We want to straighten out the finances in three years but we will do it without impacting the clubs and without a social plan”
Because of the business, there has been little talk of prospects. Is your project for French rugby anything other than austerity?
Of course. I am not in favour of austerity but of rational development. When we look at French rugby, there is first of all a financial difficulty to face. We want to straighten out the finances in three years but we will do it without impacting the clubs and without a social plan at the Federation. Then we have a real strategy to revive rugby from the grassroots. To do this, we have a Marshall plan of 20 million euros. Each club can have an envelope of 50,000 euros to improve its facilities. We have put an additional 3 million euros on the regional leagues and on the committees. We have created eight French champion titles on territorial rugby. For 15 months, we have managed to manage rugby very well with only 11 elected officials out of 40 and only 3 leagues out of 13 metropolitan.
World Rugby
A chance for Benazzi. A month after the elections to the French Federation, the election of the president of World Rugby will be held. For a long time, the Scot John Jeffrey was the favorite to succeed the Englishman Bill Beaumont. But the former third row gave up after failing to obtain the support of his federation. That leaves three candidates: the Australian Brett Robinson, the Italian Andrea Rinaldo and the Frenchman Abdelatif Benazzi. The former third row of the Blues was the last to declare himself but in an election that promises to be open, Benazzi has a real chance of winning.
Are you going to devote the same resources to the French XV and to rugby sevens which has also become a showcase?
We have not cut any resources except that the training courses take place in Marcoussis. We are also more careful about the category of hotels, we book planes in advance, we pool purchases. This is not an austerity plan, it is good management.
(1) Racist remarks by Melvyn Jaminet and indictment for alleged rape of Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou during the French XV tour in Argentina, disappearance of Medhi Narjissi swept away by the ocean near the Cape of Good Hope during a recovery session with the French under-18 team.
