The current majority has refused the outstretched hand of the opposition in view of the elections of the new president of the French Rugby Federation, from 12 to 14 June. In a virulent statement, signed by the "members of the Management Committee of the FFR, elected by the majority carried first by Bernard Laporte and then by Alexandre Martinez", it warns "with simplicity and force" that it will not collaborate with Ovale Ensemble in the event of the election of Florian Grill and reaffirms its wish to see its representative, Patrick Buisson, elected.
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We refute any possibility of alliance, agreement or rallying with another candidate who would be elected without a majority to the post of President of the FFR. Once elected, the latter would thus find himself in the total inability to exercise his power, plunging the institution into a regrettable functional complexity." And to add, "any assertion contrary to these two principles by the candidate, his supporters or any media whatsoever is a lie to amateur clubs".
"A threat" denounced by the opposition
A clarification that earned a response from the opposition. "The current governance of the FFR widely disseminates a text in which it rejects any idea of cohabitation, whatever the result of the ballot box, and makes this threat the heart of its second-round program. The slogan of this governance, "all united behind the XV of France", evoked "appeasement" to preserve the World Cup and our blues. Should it now, and after a first round, that it is "chaos" and that we are "all disunited"?
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Such a position, in an attempt to impose a president already rejected by the referendum, would be tantamount to saying to the clubs 'whatever your vote we will not take it into account'." For Florian Grille and Ovale Ensemble, "this statement shows above all a great feverishness".
«We say it forcefully: we cannot decently claim to lead a Federation by assuming to make threats that are akin to "blackmail to chaos" three months before a World Cup that requires the unity of all in the acceptance of diversity and differences.»
