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.

Laporte was banned from holding any position in rugby for two years but his lawyer Jean-Pierre Versini-Campinchi said he would appeal the ruling, meaning the former France coach and sports minister can keep his top job at the federation in the meantime.

Mohed Altrad, the owner and president of Montpellier rugby club, was also found guilty of active corruption, influence peddling, and misuse of corporate assets, L’Equipe newspaper reported. He was handed an 18-month suspended prison sentence, as well as a €50,000 fine, the newspaper said.

In 2017, Laporte was the subject of an investigation into an alleged conflict of interests and denied accusations that he pressured the French federation’s appeals board to reduce sanctions against Top 14 club Montpellier.

Following a three-month investigation, the French sports ministry said Laporte contacted the appeal commission’s president and stressed that the phone call resulted in commission members changing their decision. That meant Montpellier’s fine of €70,000 was reduced to €20,000 and a one-game stadium ban was canceled after Laporte’s intercession.

Altrad, a Syrian-born French billionaire and a close friend of Laporte, sealed a partnership with the French federation to become the first shirt sponsor of the Tricolors in 2018. The French federation said at the time its ethical committee judged that the sponsorship deal did not cause a conflict of interest. The Altrad group was the sole bidder.