Paris (AFP)
The president of the French Rugby Federation (FFR) Bernard Laporte will play his re-election for a second four-year term on 3 October 2020, in an electronic and decentralized ballot, the FFR said on Saturday.
The former coach of the XV of France (1999-2007), secretary of state for sports of the Fillon government (2007-2009) and successful manager of Toulon (2011-2016), surprise winner against the outgoing president Pierre Camou in 2016 will have opponent Florian Grill, president of the Ile-de-France League, supported by former international Serge Blanco, Fabien Pelous, Jean-Claude Skrela, Eric Champ or Jean-Marc Lhermet.
The electronic and decentralized voting for the election of federal leaders was a commitment of the 2016 campaign of Laporte, who argued the difficulties of small clubs to move to Marcoussis.
The regional elections - November 7, 2020 - and departmental elections - December 5 - will also take place in this form, tested in April during the referendum on the question of the recruitment of a foreign coach, to which the French clubs answered no to 59 %.
The steering committee of the FFR also voted Saturday the creation of a High Performance Commission of French rugby, in charge of the "high performance policy of French rugby for the next 10 years". This commission will begin its work on Wednesday.
© 2019 AFP