He claims to be in the rules.
Former French international Sébastien Chabal, suspected of ticket trafficking after acquiring a hundred places for the next Rugby World Cup in France, denied any irregularity to AFP on Saturday.
According to information from the Parisian, the former third line (45 years old, 62 selections between 2000 and 2011), ambassador of the competition, was able to buy a hundred tickets, thus circumventing the rules of sale limiting the number of places to eight per employee of the organizing committee.
"Yes, I benefited from privileged access to buy more tickets than can be done by one person, because of my status as ambassador of France 2023", reacted Sébastien Chabal in a press release sent to AFP.
Contacted, the former star of the XV of France did not want to make additional comments.
“I do not intend to make a profit on these places”
“I didn't get any freebies or preferential rates.
And no, I do not intend to make a profit on these places, added the ex-player of Lyon or Bourgoin-Jallieu, rejecting any traffic in tickets.
It is obvious that these places cannot be resold by those who will benefit from them.
It is just as inconceivable that they can be used for commercial operations.
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Another former rugby player, Henri Mioch, project manager for the organization of the World Cup between 2017 and 2020, is suspected of having bought some 600 tickets, added this source.
“For us, given the volume, there is no doubt that it is ticket trafficking”, assures a source familiar with the matter to the Parisian.
These purchases were discovered during searches carried out in November, in particular at the headquarters of the public interest group (GIP) France 2023, responsible for organizing the Rugby World Cup.
These searches were held as part of the investigation opened in October by the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) targeting acts of favouritism, influence peddling and corruption, and entrusted to the gendarmes of the Paris research section.
This investigation had been opened following a joint report from the General Inspectorate of Finance and the General Inspectorate of Education concerning "contracts awarded", "ticketing" and "vehicles made available" to the former director general of the GIP, Claude Atcher.
The latter was definitively dismissed in October because of his managerial practices considered brutal.