The ten host cities of the 2023 Rugby World Cup will express “full support” for the decision to temporarily lay off its general manager Claude Atcher, just over a year from the competition, due to “managerial practices alarming”. This decision taken on Monday by the Ministry of Sports, the French Rugby Federation (FFR) and the French Olympic Committee (CNOSF), must be ratified on Friday by an exceptional board of directors of the France-2023 public interest group.
“We cannot condone these unacceptable methods”
On this occasion, the PS mayor of Saint-Denis, where the Stade de France is located, Mathieu Hanotin, “will express on behalf of the ten host cities of the World Cup full support for this position”, said Wednesday in a press release. the president of territories of sporting events bringing together these cities. “If governance by brutality or intimidation and authoritarian management are proven, we cannot endorse these unacceptable methods to make an event a success that affects the image of all of France”, writes Mathieu Hanotin on behalf of the ten host cities.
“One year from the event, the urgency is to re-establish a constructive dialogue with employees, public institutions, partners and the international federation. This is the essential condition to make, in all territories, this World Cup a great popular celebration for the benefit of the populations and all rugby enthusiasts, ”he adds. The Rugby World Cup will take place from September 8 to October 28 in Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Nice, Lille, Paris, Saint-Denis, Saint-Etienne and Toulouse.