In an open letter, the president of the French Rugby Federation Florian Grill responds to his detractors

Florian Grill, the president of the French rugby federation, responded to his detractors in an open letter. Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART

This Sunday, January 11, Florian Grill, president of the FFR, responded to his opponents in a long open letter on his Facebook account. In the viewfinder, Bernard Laporte, Guilhem Guirado, Mourad Boudjelall and the former treasurer of the federation Marie-Pierre Pagès.

It is a long response, point by point, to the attacks of his detractors that Florian Grill published Sunday evening on his Facebook account. In his viewfinder, his predecessor Bernard Laporte who accuses him of lies. "Don't you see that they are only lying ?", protested  Bernard Laporte on the accusations of mismanagement of the FFR made by Florian Grill.

Guirado and Boudjellal in the viewfinder

The current president of the FFR also pays Guilhem Guirado, the former captain of the XV of France now elected in opposition to the steering committee of the FFR, but also the former president of RC Toulon Mourad Boudjellal or the former treasurer of the Federation under the presidency of Bernard Laporte, Marie-Pierre Pagès. 

In his letter, Florian Grill takes up one by one the various criticisms made against him by all these opponents. He also accuses them of a smear campaign on social networks. 

The open letter from Florian Grill

Dear Bernard, dear Guilhem, dear Mourad and very dear Marie-Pierre,

Before our election you promised that rugby would be up for grabs. fire and &agrav; blood during the World Cup if we came to the top. We can imagine your disappointment because it was nothing of the sort with a completely peaceful World Cup, as the clubs and the world of rugby expected.

But with the prospect of a campaign, you have to believe that you regret this time of skirmishes and tension (ah the general good of times past) to put things back together. ecessities in the machine while rugby always needs appeasement after 7 years or so. you have maintained tensions by politicizing rugby like never before. Obviously, and even if I don't believe that this corresponds to the will clubs, you miss low blows!

À All honor, Bernard, you accuse me of « lying about accounts ». I admit that çit made me smile. If I recognize that you have real coaching skills without any problem, I think that reading balance sheets and income statements is an area where you need to improve your skills. there is a small chance that I will be better placed. The audit à coming from the Court of Auditors on the FFR will confirm my words. We'll see if you accuse them of lying too ? that would be juicy.

Guilhem you are welcome to the amateur rugby that you are discovering and so we can't really blame you. But you have to believe that you learn quickly: in à barely more than 6 months you are already at home capable of delivering a terrible blow by declaring that our balance sheet would be « a disaster ». I still note with mischief that you speak more in the media than in the Committee. director où your presence is not continuous, and your silence is quite stunning.

Dear Mourad. This is not the first time that I have had the honor of your shots. view. This time you call me « the other ». Nice, a bit like when Bernard said about me « Grill who cares, only his mother knows him. In this you are faithful to yourself and your friend Bernard. Loyalty is also a quality which I appreciate. That said now that I was able to do this. I went to the Southern League several times, which was forbidden to me during the presidency of Henri Mondino, I was able to find out about your past exploits. s and I know a lot more. Congratulations for the titles with Toulon even if we can regret the few players eligible for the French team, but I pity the one who passed away. behind you and who was behind you forced to fill in the gaps!

If you want I can also explain the role of an association because in a club there is not only the professional team. The BDUs, the cadets, the juniors, the women, the training, the referees… All this counts a little, but it didn't necessarily go in your favour. In any case, your advice for managing amateur rugby is more than welcome, as for Bernard and Guilhem who, like you, seem to know it very well.

My dearest Marie Pierre. You regularly brighten up our steering committees with your radiant joy that everyone appreciates. But there frankly it’s exceptional, you’ve reached another peak. À according to your groupies on social networks, fans of « fake news », your whistle in the lounge of the Stade Vélodrome during my speech to the Irish delegation became a real bronca, as if the whole room, what was saying- I, the whole stadium had taken it up again. its account. No Marie Pierre, I must refresh your desire to attract the crowds. It was quite pitiful to hear your whistle in the living room and as I was able to tell you, you did not make the image of France shine and of the FFR with this attitude unworthy of an elected official. But no, the hola launched by you is not yet for tomorrow.

And since you distribute the good and bad points, allow me, Marie-Pierre, to remind you that you were é treasurer of the FFR for 6 months during which… hellip; you didn’t see anything. Nothing at all. Neither the million Australians (what a joke by the way), nor the 35 million slippage of a GIE which according to you should have earned at least 10 million euros and which loses 25 (a straw a gap of 35 million), nor all the rest on which your predecessor at least had honesty and honesty. to attract my attention to my éelection…

By the way, and there & I'm not kidding, you should ban à your supporters on social networks to treat your former teams as « collaborators » with reference to 1940!!! My arms fall anyway. Already for the violence of words but also for the collective amnesia that has taken hold of you and yours! Did you forget? that you had voted and validated the presence of 5 elected officials from your team our Federal Office to blame them for it today ? It’s true that it’s bad luck for you that they opened their eyes and discovered that we were normal, hardworking people.

Finally &agrav; you 4 a last word. You and your friends maintain the little music that only a former international could be president. As far as I know, Bernard was not, but if this terrible iron rule were to impose itself, it would be urgent to prevent the 30 pr& Presidents of top 14 and ProD2, presidents of Leagues, CDs and our 1950 clubs because I fear that the internationals at the helm will not be legion. We'll have to find international ones to replace all our volunteers!

Know in any case that while you rage in the media or make your troops scream on social networks by multiplying false information, we are already recording the fruits of our labor.

And yes, I have bad news for you, I have no doubt that we will succeed in this. raise the bar of the FFR without cutting the human resources of the French teams, without affecting the salaried teams and Marcoussis and by giving more resources to the local: regional leagues, departmental committees and amateur clubs that you have neglected; !

In any case, thank you for your definitive judgments, your kind words, your in-depth expertise in federal accounts or amateur rugby. Without you I'm not sure we would have seen everything.

And while you howl at wolves, we… we work