If this injunction was not followed by effect, a disciplinary sanction could be taken against the president of the FFR.
The information was revealed by L’Équipe, then confirmed by AFP. This Friday morning, the Ethics Committee of the FFR would have notified its president Bernard Laporte, the injunction to stand aside from his duties after his conviction at first instance, Tuesday, for corruption, influence peddling and unlawful taking of interest.
The members of the Ethics Committee, meeting on Wednesday and Thursday, had three options: to give an opinion, to recommend a recommendation or to make an injunction. If this injunction is not followed by effect, the Ethics Committee could seize the Disciplinary Commission of the FFR, which could consider a disciplinary sanction.
Many calls for resignation
The ethics committee asked Bernard Laporte to “temporarily withdraw, as a precaution until a final criminal decision» and to designate «without delay a deputy chairman“, told AFP a source with knowledge of the file.
In a three-page letter, which AFP was able to consult and which was sent to the Ministry of Sports, to Bernard Laporte and to the secretary general of the FFR, the Federal Committee of Ethics and Professional Conduct considers that the former coach is not “more able (…) to justify sufficient credit and authority to serenely embody the level of requirement and ethics required» nor of «defend in all circumstances the general interest of French rugby» or «engender the confidence necessary for this exercise in conditions that are not likely to cast opprobrium on the federal institution by casting doubt on its regular, sincere and honest functioning“.
The Committee therefore asked for his temporary withdrawal and not for new elections since he would be replaced by a president-delegate, Laporte remaining in fact elected federal.
The Ministry of Sports, the international federation (World Rugby) and the League (LNR) had also called on the president of the FFR to resign in recent days.