The French Rugby Federation (FFR) is preparing to act against the directors of the organizing committee and hospitality body set up for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France after a damning report outlined serious failures that have led to heavy losses.
The FFR said it could not “ignore the harsh findings” made by Cour de Comptes, France’s supreme audit institution, against the governance of the local organizing committee (GIP), as well as the management of the hospitality program GIE Hospitalité & Voyages (GIE).
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In a statement, the governing body said GIE and GIP are taking “necessary steps” to hold their former directors to account, which will be regularly monitored by the FFR.
The report, released earlier this week, highlighted serious mismanagement, a lack of transparency, and poorly assessed financial commitments during the organization of the 2023 RWC that has led to an expected net loss of €13 million ($14.5 million) for the tournament, with that figure potentially rising to €29 million once related legal cases have been resolved.
Before the tournament, the FFR had projected that the event would bring in at least €69 million. In 2007, the World Cup in France generated €33 million in profit.
The report singled out Claude Atcher, who was fired as chief executive of the GIP in October 2022, a year before the start of the World Cup, as the main protagonist of the failures. However, it also said the FFR and the French government had to bear some responsibility “because of major failures in the control they should have exercised over the organizing committee."
Reports have said Bernard Laporte gave a “blank cheque” to Atcher before resigning as FFR president in January 2023 after receiving a two-year suspended sentence for corruption offenses.
At a press conference, Cour de Comptes’ president Pierre Moscovici said: “Everyone won, except the (French) organizers.”
He added the FFR gave unrealistic commitments to World Rugby to secure the hosting of the tournament, and while the tournament was an “undeniable success with the public, the media and in a sporting sense … financial targets were not met and the legacy resources left behind for rugby are virtually nil.”
World Rugby, meanwhile, pocketed a record-breaking €500 million in revenue as the competition’s rights holder.
Exercising his right to reply to the report, Atcher submitted a written rebuttal defending his tenure, suggesting actions after he left affected the financial results, adding: “The catastrophic management of the event after my departure deprived French rugby of nearly €50 million in earnings.”
Another critical failure highlighted by the report was the French government’s delayed involvement in the event’s organization, with the state only becoming proactive in 2022 after Atcher was removed over concerns with his management style and the committee was in disarray.
Summing things up, Moscovici said he was concerned the French government “does not have a clear, substantiated doctrine for analyzing the conditions under which it provides support” for the organization of an international competition and he hoped his recommendations outlined in the report would be observed by the organizers of the 2030 Winter Olympics to be staged in the French Alps.
