Rugby: end of the historic partnership between the French Rugby Federation and the GMF

Rugby : fin du partenariat historique entre la FFR et la GMF. MAXPPP – Mourad ALLILI

The partnership between the French Rugby Federation (FFR) and the insurer GMF, which began in 1985, will end from June, FFR president Florian Grill told AFP on Thursday. , confirming information from L'Equipe.

"It's quite moving: since I was very little, the GMF (Mutual Guarantee of Civil Servants) has been a partner of rugby. We must thank them for all these years", emphasized Grill.

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The announcement of the end of this partnership comes at a time when the Federation's accounts are in the red, Florian Grill having recently mentioned a deficit of around 40 million euros in two seasons.

An entry ticket estimated between 6 and 12 million euros

"We inherited a new grid of partnerships. Before, there were tier 1 partners, plus the equipment partner (Le Coq Sportif), without any being specifically highlighted. In the new grid, designed by the previous governance, there are three textile partners: Altrad, Société Générale and Renault. GMF, which was a tier 1 partner, did not wish to increase its budget which would have allowed it to remain among the textile partners", detailed the president of the FFR.

The entry ticket to be a Tier 1 partner is estimated between 6 and 12 million euros.

Avec le retrait de la GMF, la Fédération française de rugby perd gros https://t.co/jghe625sTY

— Clément Maillard (@MaillardOZD) January 25, 2024

Staying as a Tier 2 partner would have ensured "less visibility" for the GMF, Grill continued. "We estimate the visibility of level 2 at 10 million euros, for a cost of approximately 2 to 2.5 million euros. It was less interesting than the visibility that the GMF had before. They preferred not to position themselves", added the boss of the FFR.

"We will have other partners. We are already talking with others who are interested in the visibility of the French team", Grill put it into perspective.

The XV of France sets off again to attack the Six Nations Tournament on February 2, in Marseille, against the Irish, title holders and authors of the Grand Slam last year .

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This will be the first match for Fabien Galthié's Blues since their defeat against South Africa (29-28), on October 15, in the quarter-final of the World Cup played at home.