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Heavy rains force Italy rugby game switch

Heavy rains in recent days in the flood-hit city of Genoa have forced the rescheduling of Saturday's rugby Test between Italy and Argentina, the Italian rugby federation (Fir) confirmed on Thursday.

Published: 14 November 2014 08:23 CET
Heavy rains force Italy rugby game switch
Italy's captain Sergio Parisse (R) and teammates wave to fans at the end of the rugby union test match Italy v Samoa on November 8th. Photo: Gabriel Buoys

The match will still be played at Genoa's Luigi Ferraris stadium but kicks off on Friday at 5.15pm local time (1615 GMT).

"The Italian rugby federation announces that the test match between Italy and Argentina, originally scheduled for Saturday at the Luigi Ferraris stadium, has been brought forward to Friday at 17.15pm," a statement from the Fir said.

Earlier, the Saturday fixture was cancelled over fears that predicted heavy rain in Genoa on Saturday would lead to further chaos.

So far this month, five people have been killed in flood-related incidents. Fir officials said the decision was taken following hours of meetings with officials from the city, including those tasked with guaranteeing public safety.

"The decision was made because of the very strong possibility of heavy rain on Saturday. Security officials felt that holding the match then posed just too much of a risk."

The death toll from the latest wave of storms to batter northern Italy rose to five on Thursday as floods and landslides continued to wreak havoc across the region.

Genoa suffered particularly badly during heavy floods last month when millions of euros' worth of damages were caused and people were forced from their homes.

The floods also badly affected the pitch at the Luigi Ferraris stadium, which is usually shared by Serie A sides Genoa and Sampdoria.

The statement added that the choice of hour for Friday's game was "necessary to safeguard the proper arrival and departure of the public".

"All tickets that have been sold will still be valid for the game."

Italy began their November Test series with a morale-boosting 24-13 win over Samoa in Ascoli last week.

But after moving on to Genoa at the start of the week, the Azzurri were forced to train indoors due to poor conditions outside.

The game against Argentina will be the Italians' second in the three-Test November series, ahead of meeting South Africa in Padua next weekend.

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SPORT

French rugby in turmoil as FFR boss gets suspended sentence over corruption

Lawyers for FFR President Bernard Laporte said he was going to appeal against the court's verdict

Published: 14 December 2022 09:16 CET
French rugby in turmoil as FFR boss gets suspended sentence over corruption

French rugby was reeling Tuesday after the president of the country’s governing body Bernard Laporte was handed a two-year suspended prison sentence on corruption charges nine months before France hosts the game’s World Cup.

Fédération Française de Rugby (FFR) president Laporte, 58, was convicted after a French court ruled he showed favouritism in awarding a shirt sponsorship contract for the national side to Mohed Altrad, the billionaire owner of Top 14 champions Montpellier. He was also banned from holding any rugby post for two years. Both are suspended pending an appeal, which Laporte’s lawyer said was imminent.

Laporte later stepped down from his role as vice-chairman of the sport’s global governing body, World Rugby, pending a review by the body’s ethics officer.

“World Rugby notes the decision by World Rugby vice-chairman Bernard Laporte to self-suspend from all positions held within its governance structures with immediate effect following his conviction by the French court in relation to domestic matters, and pending his appeal,” World Rugby said.

“While acknowledging Laporte’s self-suspension and right of appeal, given the serious nature of the verdict World Rugby’s Executive Committee has referred the matter to its independent ethics officer for review in accordance with its integrity code,” it added.

Resignation call
Laporte faces problems on the domestic front, too, with Florian Grill, who narrowly lost to him in the 2020 election for federation chief, calling for Laporte and the entire board to stand down.

“It is unheard of in rugby, this is an earthquake,” Grill told AFP. “We have never before seen a president of the federation condemned to two
years in prison, even if it suspended.

“We think the 40 members of the board of directors should draw the obvious conclusions and resign.”

French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said the sentence was an “obstacle for Bernard Laporte to be able, as it stands, to continue his mission in good conditions” as federation president, and called for a “new democratic era to allow French rugby to rebound as quickly as possible and sufficiently healthy and solid, with a governance by the federation that will have the full confidence of the clubs”.

The court found that Laporte ensured a series of marketing decisions favourable to Altrad – who was given an 18-month suspended sentence and
€50,000 euro — in exchange for a €180,000 image licensing contract that was never actually carried out.

Altrad’s lawyer said he would study the decision before deciding on whether to appeal.

At the trial’s close in September, prosecutors said they were seeking a three-year prison sentence for Laporte, of which he should serve one behind bars, and the two others on probation.

The friendship and business links between Laporte and Altrad are at the heart of the case.

It goes back to February 2017, when they signed a deal under which Laporte agreed to appear at Altrad group conferences, and sold his image reproduction rights, in return for €180,000.

But while that sum was  paid to Laporte, prosecutors claim that he neveractually provided the services he signed up for.

Laporte did, however, make several public statements backing Altrad and, in March 2017, signed the €1.8 million deal with the businessman making his namesake firm the first-ever sponsor to appear on the French national team’s jerseys.

The Altrad name and logo still features on the shirts thanks to a follow-up deal negotiated by Laporte in 2018 and which prosecutors say bears all the hallmarks of corruption. It is also on the All Blacks’ national squads’ shirts, and New Zealand Rugby is reportedly seeking an urgent meeting with company officials following the court ruling.

Laporte, formerly a highly successful coach who guided France twice to the World Cup semi-finals (2003 and 2007), was also found guilty of favouritism
with regards to Altrad’s Montpellier Herault Rugby (MHR) club.

He was convicted for intervening with French rugby’s federal disciplinary commission to reduce a fine against the club from €70,000 to €20,000 after several telephone calls from Laporte.

While prosecutors saw this and several more incidents as proof of illicit favouritism, Laporte himself had claimed there was no “cause-effect relationship”.

On the last day of the trial in October, Laporte’s lawyer Fanny Colin accused the prosecution of “confirmation bias” by “taking into account only elements backing their original assumptions”.

The verdict comes only nine months before the Rugby World Cup kicks off in France on September 8, 2023, with matches played in nine stadiums across the country.

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