Paris (AFP)

Florian Grill, leader of the opposition to the French Rugby Federation (FFR), asked Sunday for the opening of "an independent investigation" to shed light on the cluster of the XV of France which resulted in the postponement of the match France-Scotland.

The Minister Delegate for Sports Roxana Maracineanu entrusted in the week the task of the FFR to conduct an internal investigation, while asking the Ministry of Health to understand how the chain of contamination was formed.

"To reassure themselves and reassure everyone, the emergency is an independent investigation and not an internal investigation out of respect for all amateur rugby who, him, made huge sacrifices," said Grill, interviewed by AFP .

Rival of Bernard Laporte during the last federal election, he is a member of the steering committee of the FFR.

Such an investigation should be carried out, according to him, by the General Inspectorate of Education, Sport and Research (formerly the General Inspectorate of Youth and Sports).

"We cannot hope to be world champions in 2023 if we build on a hypothesis that would be far-fetched. It is better to speak the truth, assume it and draw conclusions if there are consequences to be drawn", continued the president of the Ile-de-France League.

"It is unthinkable to build on something unspoken even for (the coach) Fabien Galthié and his teams. We will not last until 2023 with information that does not correspond to the reality of the facts. It is extremely important . If there is fault, it must be recognized. We will forgive much more a recognized fault than a proven lie, "added Grill.

- "Duty of exemplarity" -

Asked on RTL Sunday evening on the request of Florian Grill, Roxana Maracineanu explained that she "waited first to see what will (him) be explained in the middle of the week and then we will advise".

"We have staff who are placed with the federations, a DTN, sports technical executives who can also intervene for this kind of investigation. It is also up to Bernard Laporte to measure everything and take his responsibilities in this search for truth. ", warned the minister.

Sixteen positive cases of Covid-19 in a little over a week, twelve among the players and four within the management including the coach Fabien Galthié, resulted in the postponement of the scheduled France-Scotland Six Nations Tournament meeting initially Sunday.

Galthié is suspected of having broken the rules of the health protocol, which he refuted.

"He told me: + I respected the protocol. + I believe it", said Bernard Laporte Friday on RMC Sport.

"There are thirty cameras in Marcoussis (at the National Rugby Center where the Blues train, editor's note). If we want to know what happened, it's not necessarily very complicated," said Grill.

For Roxana Maracineanu, "when we ask players for sacrifices by being tested every day and it is not very pleasant all that, it is necessary that the exemplarity touches everyone, the players as the coaches and the members of a federation ".

"It is a duty to set an example, a contract of trust (...) a question of respect also for the work of my ministry", she concluded.

© 2021 AFP