French rugby president Bernard Laporte handed suspended sentence

SUSPENDED SENTENCE: President of the French Rugby Federation (FFR) Bernard Laporte. Pic: Alain Jocard/AFP via Getty Images

French rugby federation president Bernard Laporte was handed a two-year suspended sentence in a corruption case involving a billionaire club owner, just nine months before the World Cup kicks off in France, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Laporte, who is also World Rugby’s vice-chairman, was found guilty of passive corruption, influence peddling, illegal interest taking and misuse of corporate assets by a court in Paris.