Top 14 – “These comments were made hotly after a defeat which was morally painful”: Vannes reacts to the Jean-Noël Spitzer affair

The Rugby Club Vannes and its sports manager Jean-Noël Spitzer took note of the decision of the French Rugby Federation to refer the matter to the disciplinary committee of the National Rugby League, following the remarks made during the press conference after match against Union Bordeaux Bègles, this Saturday, November 23.

The club and its manager will be available to this committee to clarify these comments. We regret if these could have moved or offended the professional and amateur refereeing world.

Jean-Noël Spitzer, because of his position, is fully aware that he must show greater measure and restraint. These comments were made hotly after a defeat which was morally painful, due to its unique scenario and so cruel for the club. This is not an excuse but part of an explanation.

Despite everything, we would like to reaffirm that during almost the entirety of this press conference, our manager explains that this defeat against UBB is caused by two main reasons: the inadequacies of the team and the quality of our opponent.
We are surprised that this was barely reflected in the media escalation that followed. This is part of learning at the high level and its strong media coverage for an emerging club like ours.

We will continue to work with a strong desire to progress in all our standards in order to bring our territory to the highest level of French rugby.

Furthermore, we would like to point out that Jean-Noël Spitzer and the entire club have been working for many years with the refereeing world for the training and development of young Breton referees in order to help them emerge.
We also wish to underline and highlight the quality of the exchanges and the support we have with the high performance refereeing unit within professional rugby, led by Mathieu Raynal and Romain Poite. We welcome this development plan which makes it possible to accentuate the professionalization and quality of arbitration.
Like everyone involved in the game, referees can sometimes make mistakes. We can debate it but it is essential to protect them. Our club has never called into question their probity and integrity.

The notion of respect has always been a cardinal and essential value of our club and we will continue to cultivate and defend it.

Olivier Cloarec, President of the Rugby Club Vannes