The president of the French Rugby Federation, Florian Grill, over the embers in Sévérac-d'Aveyron

Florian Grill a répondu aux questions à la maison du rugby à Sévérac. C. P. – Céline Grousset

The president of the French Rugby Federation was in South Aveyron to take stock of current events and his program for the upcoming elections.

It was as a true man of the field that Florian Grill, president of the French Rugby Federation, came, Friday evening, to meet the presidents of the Aveyron clubs. Welcomed at the rugby house in Sévérac, after a visit to Millau, he gave everyone the opportunity to lead the debates by asking all the questions they wanted.

None was avoided and no subject was taboo, since “the catastrophic financial situation of the FFR, which has a staggering deficit of 36 million euros (for a budget of 120 million) inherent in a structural deficit and the results of the World Cup", up to the "dramatic events experienced this summer (affairs linked to Melvyn Jaminet, Oscar Jégou, Hugo Auradou and Méhdi Narjissi)", including the increasingly serious cocaine problems or the motion of no confidence to which it is now subject and initiated by the opposition led by Didier Codorniou, also a candidate for the presidency of the FFR.

Six major axes to straighten out the "Federation"

Standing in front of a very attentive audience, spontaneously using the informal “tu”, Florian Grill, accompanied by his running mates, Sébastien Carrez (delegate vice-president for territoriality), Claude Hélias (general treasurer) and David Guérin (in charge of security), wished to “respond in all transparency, with the heart, frankness and respect that befits rugby”. Presenting the six main axes from which he hopes to be re-elected as president of the body on October 19, in addition to the first two consisting of “imperatively putting the accounts of the Federation back on track within three years”., he then outlined a four-point programme which will be based on the need to (re)launch the development of rugby from the grassroots, particularly in villages (increase the number of members in rugby schools, retain them and above all not only focus on the best, network the territory, help clubs which focus on training, improve facilities and infrastructure, work with the school environment, develop rugby 5s, etc.); assume the delegation of public service through the missions of the Federation (sporting, educational and civic roles) and find new partnerships; achieve excellence among both the 14 French teams and the referees and, finally, improve the weight of the Federation internationally to influence the strategies put in place.

In conclusion, “if we want rugby to develop sustainably so that society is better off, we need to return to true values: clubs, grassroots and schools. We need to recreate social ties otherwise we will die with our mouths open and lose rural rugby”, he hammered home before going to watch the training of the Sévéragais senior team.

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