Europe 1 with AFP 6:40 p.m., January 4, 2023

The National School Sport Union said on Wednesday that the rugby competitions it organizes were stopped before the Christmas holidays due to a very serious accident during a match in the Hautes-Pyrénées.

The accident that occurred on December 14 during a tackle left a 17-year-old high school student quadriplegic.

The rugby competitions organized by the National Union of School Sport were stopped on the eve of the Christmas holidays following a very serious accident during a match in the Hautes-Pyrénées, we learned on Wednesday from the UNSS.

Rugby practice has been suspended since December 16, an UNSS spokesperson told AFP.

A meeting was held on Wednesday with experts from the FFR (French Rugby Federation), during a "mixed commission" to consider the follow-up and the conditions for a recovery, we learned from the same source. .

The conclusions of this meeting will be given very soon.

A 17-year-old high school student who became a quadriplegic

The accident which occurred on December 14 during a tackle left a 17-year-old high school student, also a player for the Bagnères-de-Bigorre club, quadriplegic, according to the Republic of the Pyrenees.

In a letter, the National Union of Physical Education, affiliated to the FSU, questioned the UNSS on this suspension.

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"Suspend 'until further notice', the practice of rugby in all its forms within sports associations as in UNSS meetings is incomprehensible", writes the union.

"You are thus casting doubt on the professional skills of PE teachers and undermining the trust placed in them by school heads, IA-IPR (inspectors, editor's note), parents and students" , they continue.

"We dispute the hot reaction", explained to AFP Benoit Hubert, secretary general of SNEP-FSU.

Asked whether the practice of rugby, which has been shaken at the professional level for several years by an increase in concussions, is also monitored on this point in the school environment, Benoit Hubert assured that "the safeguards are strict in this discipline.