Clermont-Ferrand (AFP)
Hundreds of anonymous people and the French rugby community paid a last tribute to Eric de Cromières, emblematic president of ASM Clermont Auvergne on Saturday in Clermont-Ferrand, who died Thursday of cancer.
The funeral of the leader, who died at the age of 66 after a rapid deterioration in his state of health, took place in the Notre-Dame de l'Assomption cathedral in Clermont, where only 400 people were admitted, sanitary measures oblige.
"He was a great leader, frank, honest, who said things and listened to others. He was someone important and great", testified to the press the president of the French Rugby Federation Bernard Laporte .
In addition to the players and managers of the ASM, among the personalities present were the Clermont pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie and several club presidents: Yann Roubert (Lyon), Didier Lacroix (Toulouse), Simon Gillham (Brive) and Vincent Merling (La Rochelle) ), came to express their affection for the deceased.
Close to the president of Cromières, Yann Roubert regretted the loss of "a man of heart". "We were messing around with a lot of benevolence," he recalled, judging the ceremony "in his image: beautiful and large".
"Behind the president's costume, he was an exceptional man, a confidant who embodied all the values of rugby," said ASM manager Franck Azema during a ceremony where Michelin president Florent Ménégaud appeared very touched. He knew the deceased well, who was an executive for the tire giant for a long time.
- "Human warmth" -
On this particular day, Clermont was adorned in the colors of the ASM, with many shops, balconies and buildings decorated in blue and gold.
Between 250 and 300 Clermont supporters dressed in the colors of the ASM were able to gather at the Marcel-Michelin stadium to follow the ceremony on giant screens in an atmosphere of meditation. Some, attentive, scrupulously followed the service.
"I was relieved to have a mask to be able to hide my emotion, it did me good to come to make a last part of the road with this president who was full of human warmth," said Danielle Teyssier, septuagenarian. , faithful among the faithful of the ASM.
When it left the cathedral, the coffin was greeted by a guard of honor from ASM players under the applause of a hundred supporters and curious gathered outside, in front of former players such as Olivier Merle or Benjamin Kayser.
Also present were the mayor of Clermont Olivier Bianchi and the president of the region Laurent Wauquiez.
Under the chairmanship of Eric de Cromières, ASM won its second title of champion of France in 2017, as well as the European Challenge in 2019, reached the final of the European Cup twice (2015 and 2017) and two more times that of the Top 14 (2015 and 2019).
© 2020 AFP