Laporte in jail threat over deal with Altrad
The Altrad contract guaranteed Laporte £130,000 for four personal appearances before Altrad employees in a year”
No sooner has Bernard Laporte brought a World Cup to France than he is mired in a dangerous mix of legal and political drama. He had set himself a deadline of this weekend for a decision on the future of his national team boss Guy Noves and coaching staff.
Even stating clearly that, if he felt a change was required in the wake of disastrous results last month, he would not hesitate to wield the axe.
Trouble is Laporte, president of the French Rugby Federation, has other things on his mind presently – and staying out of jail has a prominent place among them.
It may be hard to envisage him behind bars but a prison sentence is among the punishments for the crime of showing favouritism in public office. That is the grave allegation against which Laporte may have to defend himself in court now that Minister for Sport Laura Flessel has referred a long-running affair to the judges.
She is a former Olympic fencing heroine known in her time as The Wasp for the sting carried in her golden blade.
Put simply, Laporte is accused of leaning on a disciplinary commission to secure a favourable outcome for Montpellier whose president Mohed Altrad had given him a lucrative and secret contract. And it is up to the judges to decide whether the evidence they can now demand from all involved justifies Laporte being put on trial or not.
A three-month inquiry set up by Flessel has already concluded that the three-man disciplinary commission DID modify its decision after Laporte phoned its president.
Unlikely as it may seem, the case has its roots in the merger briefly proposed between Stade Francais and Racing before the threat of a player strike reduced it to a botched fiasco last season.
In its wake, the Federation and League fell out over what happened to the matches postponed as a result.
Laporte wanted points to be awarded to Castres and Montpellier. League president Paul Goze insisted successfully that the games should be replayed. And it is what happened at Montpellier during their match against Racing that has put Laporte in trouble.
Banners were displayed by supporters highly critical of Goze and the League. A right, you might think, freely available to sports fans around the world.
But not in French rugby where the League inflicted a fine of more than £60,000 on Montpellier plus a onematch stadium ban. This was reduced on appeal to £18,000 and no ban after Laporte’s admitted call.
Laporte scrapped the contract he had signed with Altrad, who, incidentally, denied its existence, as soon as it was leaked to the media. It guaranteed him more than £130,000 for four personal appearances before Altrad employees in a year.
He says that his relationship with Altrad started when he was offered a substantial contract to coach Montpellier last year. A chance he rejected to devote his time to winning the presidential election.
Laporte has since allowed Altrad to put his name on France shirts as the first sponsor ever to do so and to accept his financial help during his travels to secure the 2023 World Cup for his country.
Many thought his lobbying skills, which overturned World Rugby’s attempt to select South Africa, would make him a fireproofed hero. Not so.
For what makes the case so fascinating is its political dimension with Laporte having made so many enemies at the League whose representative on the appeals commission is the chief witness against him.
For a start, there is such mutual loathing between Laporte and Goze that they were not even speaking to each other at one time.
And there are in Goze’s camp plenty of Top 14 presidents who disapprove of Laporte’s resolve to divert a chunk of their riches to the amateur game which ensured his election.
Altrad and Toulon boss Mourad Boudjellal support Laporte. It is not too hard to see their stance after what appears a ludicrously inflated reaction to a few hostile banners.
Boudjellal, by the way, was himself summoned to a League disciplinary commission last week for comments on refereeing standards.
It could be, though, that Laporte is facing enemies far more dangerous than those from his own game.
He is a former Secretary of State for Sport appointed by ousted French president Nicolas Sarkozy, no friend of the current incumbent Emmanuel Macron.
The rugby fraternity noted that Macron, during his congratulatory message for France winning the right to stage a World Cup, never once mentioned Laporte by name.
Macron has launched a campaign for morality to be a key word in his government.
Much will depend on precisely what was said during Laporte’s fateful phone call. He claims he spoke in general terms of wanting to pacify relations between Federation and League.
He has refused to resign and is ready for the long haul that French justice normally allows itself before acting. Unless, of course, it gets a little hurry-up from on high.