There it’s finished. Rugby World Cup 2023 chief executive Claude Atcher has been dismissed. The announcement was made Tuesday by the organizing committee, following the vote of an extraordinary board of directors. A little less than a year before the start of the competition (September 8-October 28), Atcher had been laid off as a precautionary measure at the end of August due to “alarming managerial practices”. The current interim CEO Julien Collette replaces Atcher while Martine Nemecek is appointed Deputy CEO.
“Meeting in extraordinary session on Monday, the board of directors of the Public Interest Group (GIP) France 2023 was informed by its president Jacques Rivoal of the conclusions of the Labor inspection mission seized the day after the publication, June 22, from a press article on the social climate within the Organizing Committee of the Rugby World Cup France 2023 and on the management of its general manager”, detail the organizers in a press release. “The board of directors of GIP France 2023 has decided to terminate the contract of its general manager”, they add.
“Alarming managerial practices”
A report by the GIP ethics committee had highlighted “alarming managerial practices altering the functioning of the structure” and related “the state of suffering of a certain number of employees”. The conclusions of the labor inspection investigation have not been made public.
At the same time, the General Inspectorate of Finance and the General Inspectorate of Higher Education and Research are carrying out a joint mission to, in particular, “analyze the existence of any breaches of economic and financial probity or conflicts of interest”. within the GIP.