Codorniou defends Jaminet: “The more evidence I have, the more I tell myself that he was unfortunately trapped, even though the man is not racist”

“The more evidence I have, the more I tell myself that he was unfortunately trapped, even though the man is not racist,” says Codorniou. MAXPPP – PENNANT Franck

Candidate for the presidency of the French Rugby Federation in the upcoming elections on October 19, Didier Codorniou returned to the affairs that have tarnished French rugby this summer, between that of Jegou-Auradou and the video of Melvyn Jaminet.

It was a summer that would go down in the history of French rugby. A player was banned from the French rugby team's tour for a video in which he made racist remarks, two others were accused of aggravated rape a few days later, and then a young man went missing while swimming in South Africa… the world of rugby will probably not be the same after these few weeks.

Candidate for the presidency of the French Rugby Federation during the next elections in October, the former captain of Narbonne Didier Codorniou returned to these episodes during an interview granted to Midi Libre.

“We must manage all these problems collectively. I come back to our slogan: “Re-enchanting rugby”. “I want to re-enchant rugby, I want to make kids dream”, he replied.

On Jaminet: “The man is not racist”

Concerning the first case, the video of Melvyn Jaminet where the Toulon full-back makes racist remarks, “Codor” announces that if he is elected, he could open the debate on a sentence reduction. “He is with friends, he jokes, he has Maghrebi friends, everything is going well with them, they have fun with it. But there you go, he makes a mistake in the application and it starts. And there indeed, he is racist”, he declared.

“I know Jaminet, I met him, and I was afraid he would do something stupid because the sentence was so quick, severe, heavy, Codorniou continues. I am ready to review his sentence. This is a situation that deserves debate with officials of the Federation, the ethics committee. I believe in the school of the second chance and this subject concerns me. The more evidence I have, the more I tell myself that he was unfortunately trapped, while the man is not racist."

On Jegou and Auradou: "They have tarnished the image of the FFR, soiled the jersey of the French team"

The candidate for the election of the president of the FFR also addressed the Jegou-Auradou affair, both accused of aggravated rape in Argentina and who returned to the country this week, awaiting a dismissal of charges. “With composure and authority, we must punish”, he stressed.

“These are two players who have tarnished the image of the French Rugby Federation, who have soiled the jersey of the French team, he continued. It will be interesting to see the result in fine of the investigation. I say that there must be gradual sanctions based on the investigations and all these incidents. We must not rush to sanction.”