Paris (AFP)

Fabien Galthié "had the right" to leave the health bubble of the XV of France and is not the zero case: the investigation of the French Rugby Federation clears the coach of any responsibility in the Covid-19 contamination of twelve players in the middle of the Six Nations tournament.

"In my report, I put it at the beginning, it is perfectly clear that what he did, whatever one might think, he had the right to do, and that there was no particular risk ", explained the president of the medical commission of the FFR Roger Salamon, Wednesday on RTL, about the report which was to be transmitted to the Ministry of Sports.

Minister Roxana Maracineanu had requested this investigation from the FFR, while requesting the Ministry of Health, to shed light on the source of contamination that led to the postponement of the match against Scotland, initially scheduled last Sunday at the Stade de France.

After his victory in Ireland (15-13) on February 14, the XV of France had suffered a cascade of contamination with Covid-19, twelve among the players plus four members of the management, including Galthié.

- patient zero -

The coach, one of the first two positive cases identified by the FFR with a physical trainer, had left the health bubble of the Blues to attend a match of his son Mathis, 19, who is evolving with the hopes of Colomiers, against the hopes of the Stade Français on February 7 at the Jean-Bouin stadium in Paris.

It was the day after the victory of the Blues in Rome against Italy (50-10) on the first day of the Tournament.

But the coach did not fault and "it is not him the zero patient", according to the boss of the medical commission of the FFR.

"It's obvious virologically, from the distance he went to see his son and the distance he had the first cases. I'm not saying that to defend him, he doesn't need it. say that because it's the truth, "explained Roger Salamon, former president of the High Council for Public Health.

The FFR explained last week that the Covid-19 had entered the Blues via a player from the France VII team requested for training in Marcoussis.

"A player came back negative but, unfortunately ... We can be + positive + in the fifteen days following contact. It is a fairly devilish virus", explained infectious disease specialist Eric Caumes, member of the medical committee of the FFR, Friday in an interview with AFP.

A different version from that presented previously by the vice-president of the FFR and "covid manager" of the Blues Serge Simon.

"Our only certainty is that no player of the XV has been contaminated by a player from France 7, since the positive cases of this week are transmissions within the group XV of France", he said in a interview in the Midi Olympique newspaper on February 22.

And to assure: "The patient zero, we know him: he is our physical trainer."

- What about waffles?

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The report will also have to determine whether the French players, who went out to eat waffles in the streets in Rome before the game against Italy, were in the nails.

These players "were retested on returning," assured the president of the FFR Bernard Laporte on Sunday on France 3.

"I don't think it was marked in the protocol that players could go out to eat waffles. Or if they go out to eat waffles, they had to be retested when they re-entered the bubble on contact. others ", had estimated Friday Roxana Maracineanu on the channel L'Equipe.

Contacted Wednesday about the report, the FFR was not immediately reachable.

"In view of the version changes to which we have been entitled in recent days, it would have been much preferable to have an independent and external audit (at the FFR)", reaffirmed to AFP Florian Grill, leader of the opposition to the FFR steering committee.

"I expect two things: to be able to read it in its entirety (...) and secondly the opinion of the Minister", he stressed.

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