They were convicted less than a year ago for having entered into a “corruption pact” and here they are reunited again: the president of the Montpellier rugby club, Mohed Altrad, named the former president of the French Federation (FFR) rugby Bernard Laporte director of rugby at the club.
Mr. Laporte will replace Philippe Saint-André at the head of Montpellier Hérault Rugby (MHR), bottom of the Top 14, announced Mr. Altrad on Sunday November 19 in Le Journal du Dimanche. Bernard Laporte “it’s the culture of winning, leadership, team spirit,” explained the Franco-Syrian businessman in the weekly.
This new collaboration between the two men resonates like a bolt from the blue, less than a year after their joint conviction in a case of active corruption, influence peddling and abuse of corporate assets.
At the head of the FFR until January 2023, Bernard Laporte was forced to leave his chair during his second term, pushed to resign after his two-year suspended prison sentence and a 75,000 fine on the 13th. December 2022 by the Paris criminal court, for having entered into a “corruption pact” with the same Mohed Altrad, a pact linked in particular to the sponsorship of the XV of France jersey. A decision he appealed.
The boss of the MHR received an eighteen-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 50,000 euros.
Montpellier red lantern
Bernard Laporte, former Secretary of State for Sports (2007-2009), will occupy the position formerly held by the South African Jake White (2015), the New Zealander Vern Cotter (2017) and therefore Philippe Saint-André since 2020.
As a coach, Bernard Laporte had led Stade Bordeaux, Stade Français and Toulon, notably winning two French championships (1998, 2014) and three European Cups (2013, 2014, 2015). Former coach of the French XV, he won four Six Nations Tournaments with the Blues, including two Grand Slams (2002, 2004).
“Today, we decided to seek out one of the best French experts in world rugby,” assured the president of Montpellier, last in the Top 14 ranking since his defeat on Saturday afternoon on the lawn of Perpignan ( 23-16).