Letter from Florian Grill: “I felt the need to say things”, the president of the French Rugby Federation explains

Florian Grill, président de la Fédération française de rugby, s'explique. Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART

The president of the French Rugby Federation, Florian Grill, published a letter on his networks addressing Bernard Laporte, Guilhem Guirado, Mourad Boudjellal and Marie-Pierre Pagès. A way "to put the church back in the middle of the village", he assures us. The opportunity to return to this choice and take stock after seven months of governance at the head of the FFR.

Sunday February 11 in the evening, Florian Grill wrote a letter addressed to Bernard Laporte, Guilhem Guirado, Mourad Boudjellal and Marie-Pierre Pagès. The president of the French Rugby Federation "felt the need to say things".

The opportunity to explain this choice and take stock seven months after his election to the presidency of the FFR.

After seven months at the head of the French Rugby Federation, what is your first assessment ?

We have four strategic axes.

1. The 13 French teams. This is the priority. We are removing any human resources from our French teams. On the other hand, operating costs are being squeezed. We can do training courses in Marcoussis without it distorting sporting performance. Besides, the players are doing very well. And it costs us less. We can pool resources, while continuing to focus on the French teams, who remain our showcase and priority.

2. The weight of the Federation internationally. We are making good progress in all respects. We are integrating members into the commissions, whereas there were none before. There is work on Tier 2 nations (teams above 12th in the world). For example, we are going to play a match against Uruguay, who are very happy with this prospect. To increase this weight internationally, we are increasing work in connection with the National Rugby League.

Also read: Rugby World Cup 2023: 48 hours in the wheel of Florian Grill, president of the FFR

3. The Federation has missions: to assume the social, societal and educational role of rugby, in addition to the sporting role. In society, find new resources for clubs, health rugby, action in neighborhoods, rural areas or even job dating. Actions on which we can find public money or patronage. The best example is the million euros invested by Total, which goes into neighborhoods and rural areas.

4. Relaunch the number of licensees to make up for this terrible differential.

That’s ?

We are the 2nd most media sport but we are 10th in terms of licensees, behind canoeing. And there, it involves 50% more resources for the regional Leagues and the departments which support the clubs. This goes through the 50,000&euro plan; maximum that we will invest in 200 to 300 clubs to finance improvements in the facilities. This involves relaunching rugby in the school world, with 35,000 balls delivered to primary schools and real work on the quality of supervision to retain our licensees.

Finally, we want to increase the number of French champion titles and we will submit it to the Steering Committee for a vote. You need carrots. Creating human adventures is the basis of this sport.

The four points are very clear. Relaunching rugby from the grassroots is the reason why I go around France all the time, to see communities and convince them to invest in rugby, starting with the feminization of locker rooms.

40 million euros operating deficit

You announced that the Federation was going to have an operating deficit of 40 million euros over two years…

(He cuts) This is the other project: the financial restoration of the Federation. We are starting from a not good situation but I am confident in our ability to turn things around. We have already recorded plenty of concrete improvements. All Federation employees are aware of the issue and are in tune. 

What are these concrete improvements ?

On a recurring basis, we need to make 10 million savings. We have already started to identify the sectors where we could do this. We need to raise 5 million additional revenue from partnerships and patronage. There too, we have touches that make us think that we are going to get there. Afterwards, we discuss with the State, France 2023 and the LNR for the distribution of the profits from the World Cup. The Federation cannot be the only loser. We discussed other subjects, like that of the Australians in August, which was a joke. I have no doubts about obtaining results.

I am the owner of an SME. I know how to read the accounts and I know how to make decisions to reduce the size without affecting the teams at Marcoussis or altering sporting performance. All while providing resources for our clubs and our four objectives. It's called   "managing". I'm not sure this was handled before.

We changed general managers. Laurent Gabanini left at the end of December. We are very happy with the recruitment. The new CEO begins his mission as a volunteer until April 1st before becoming full-time. He had three months' notice with his old company. 

You were on the FFR Steering Committee from 2016 to 2023. Had you noticed the dysfunctions ?

I kept ringing the alarm bells. It's been seven years since we've been saying we're going to hell. This Federation has only made operating deficits. It was crazy to sign with CVC. They gave us short-term money but today they take 14% of regular income. I am unassailable on that. Take a look at all the reports from the steering committees, I kept saying that we were heading into trouble.

Little communication is made about this shadow work. Aren't you afraid that this will play tricks on you ?

It concerns a lot of amateur rugby, so the general public is not aware. Every week I lead a meeting of regional league presidents, and I meet with departmental committees. They know about it. I work four days a week in the field. My teams, almost the same. All this is on the Federation website, eh.

There is a lot of field work. This is not a general public communication. These are still the clubs most interested. It’s not the supporters I’m targeting but the club presidents.

Letter and explanations

You published a letter on Sunday evening addressing Bernard Laporte, Guilhem Guirado, Mourad Boudjellal and Marie-Pierre Pagès. Is this a way to settle your scores ?

No, not at all. First of all, it was done with a little humor and it was a way of putting the church back in the middle of the village. When you look at the statements in recent weeks: "He is lying" or "the results are catastrophic". But where are the details ? 

We read that you were whistled in the lounges at the Vélodrome during the match against Ireland…

We even talked about bronca, even though there was only one woman who whistled. She (Marie-Pierre Pagès) should remain discreet given her results when she was treasurer of the Federation. 

With a little detachment and humor, I wanted to set the record straight so as not to let anyone say anything. The shootings on sight of Bernard Laporte, Guilhem Guirado, Mourad Boudejallal and Marie-Pierre Pagès are not at all what the clubs want to hear. On certain sites, they treated people of & quot;collaborators". It’s not rugby. Rugby is a world of respect and nothing else. I felt the need to say things, it was going too far.

The priority is to work, straighten out this Fed and everything is positively committed to it.

Aren’t the shares you own in Montpellier Hérault Rugby problematic ?

They are worth 390€. It’s a storm in a glass of water, there is no subject. I planned to sell them for 1 euro. The process is in progress.

How do you feel about the French team in this VI Nations Tournament ?

It was a very nice week last week. Not very good content, certainly, but a very nice week in Marcoussis where the players came together. Rugby is a matter of solidarity. Fabien became much closer to the players after the defeat against Ireland. He did very well. The players appreciated it. The team came together. Winning in Scotland, we had to do it.