Key Laporte-Altrad court decision could send rugby into a pit of chaos
The world order of rugby could descend into a pit of chaos should World Rugby vice-chairman Bernard Laporte and Top14 club Montpellier’s billionaire owner Mohed Altrad – as well as three others – be convicted of bribery and bribery-related charges in the French courts tomorrow.
Rose-Marie Hunault, the president of the 32nd courtroom, is due to deliver their deliberation at the Paris Criminal Court with prison time, fines and a ban on rugby-related activity among sanctions requested by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office during the trial in September.
Laporte, who propped up World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont’s re-election to the highest position of governance in rugby in 2020, faces charges of “passive corruption”, “passive influence peddling”, “illegal taking of interests”, “breach of trust” and “concealment of abuse of corporate assets”.
Altrad, the Syrian-born scaffolding tycoon who has chaired and funded the Top14 champions Montpellier since 2011, is accused of “influence peddling”, “abuse of corporate assets”, and “active corruption”.
Three other men – Serge Simon, the former French Rugby Federation vice-president, Claude Atcher, the former chief executive of France 2023, and Benoit Rover, a business partner of Atcher – are also set to hear verdicts on their alleged actions tomorrow.
All five men deny all allegations brought against them.
The allegations made by the prosecution hark back to a series of deals in 2017 and 2018.
According to reports, Laporte agreed to appear in conferences for Altrad in return for €180,000.
The report goes on to say that Laporte never provided the intended services as part of the deal, though the former French Sports Minister did publicly back Altrad and signed a deal in the early months of 2017 – worth €1.8m – to make Altrad’s namesake firm France’s first ever international front-of-shirt sponsor.
There are further allegations that Laporte intervened with the French rugby’s disciplinary committee and lowered a fine against Altrad’s company by €50,000.
The prosecutors, Celine Guillet and Francois-Xavier Dulin, argued in September that punishments should extend to three years in prison – two suspended – for Laporte, plus a fine of €50,000 and a ban on exercising a function in rugby for two years.
For the billionaire club owner, the prosecution requested the same prison time, a €200,000 fine, a ban on commercial company management for two years and a ban on exercising a function in rugby for two years.
For Altrad the full punishment – if convicted – could see him run into issues with his Montpellier ownership, depending on what restrictions are placed on his involvement with rugby. He also has a sponsorship deal with New Zealand’s All Blacks.
For Laporte, a conviction could force him out of his post at World Rugby as a guilty verdict would see him breach the governing body’s Integrity Code.
“As a World Rugby official governed by World Rugby’s Integrity Code, any criminal conviction would have serious consequences for his [Laporte’s] position within the international federation, and would likely result in his removal from office,” said Ben Cisneros of Morgan Sports Law and Rugby and the Law.