"We are in a gray area": after his resignation from the FFR, Serge Blanco hesitates to run again

Jean-Baptiste Sarrazin, with Céline Géraud 20:00 pm, March 30, 2023

"Complex." It is in this term that Serge Blanco perfectly summarizes the current situation affecting the French Rugby Federation (FFR). Exceptional guest of the program Europe 1 Sport (every evening from 20 hours to 23 hours), the former player of the XV of France had submitted his resignation from the body while he was elected since 2020. This decision followed the rejection, by rugby clubs in France, of the referendum on the replacement of Bernard Laporte. The latter, sentenced to two years in prison suspended for corruption, had withdrawn until his appeal trial, and had proposed Patrick Buisson to succeed him.

But amateur rugby decided otherwise and rejected this proposal, leading to the resignation of nine elected members of the FFR including Serge Blanco. "I resigned, even if it was not my first will, because I think that when you have responsibilities and when a number of clubs trust you, it is not easy to let them down," justified the new consultant of Europe 1 for the 2023 World Cup. This rejection of the referendum was thus perceived by the former president of the League as a demand for the resignation of all elected representatives.

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New elections

After the resignation of Bernard Laporte, the FFR went it alone, without an official president. Alexandre Martinez, then treasurer general of the body since 2016, was appointed interim president by the steering committee on February 3. New elections are due to be held next June. They will also make it possible to "re-elect a dozen members to the steering committee since there was a resignation of the opposition of nine people," explained Serge Blanco who evokes a "troubled" period a few months before the start of the Rugby World Cup to be held in France (September 8 to October 28). Rushed elections to compensate for the departures, before the new "big elections" in 2024.

For the best try scorer in the history of the XV of France (38), "we are in a gray area for rugby". It remains to be seen whether Serge Blanco will be a candidate again, a few months after his resignation. But the former president of Biarritz Olympique wonders: "I am entitled to ask myself some questions, namely what I will do in a while. The resignation was made. Now, another question will arise, that of whether or not I leave for a place on the steering committee." Be that as it may, "the Pelé of rugby" wishes above all that a form of stability is found at the FFR. He hopes that the World Cup will be "positive", erasing the storm that the Federation is going through.