World Rugby vice-president Bernard Laporte gets prison sentence for corruption

French man Bernard Laporte stepped down from his position as vice-president of World Rugby Tuesday night after being found guilty of corruption and given a two-year suspended jail sentence in a French court.

Nine months before the World Cup is due to be held in France, Laporte, 58, is also facing calls to resign as president of the country’s rugby governing body, Fédération Française de Rugby (FFR), after the court’s findings that he illegally favoured Mohed Altrad, the billionaire owner of Montpellier, in a number of business dealings.

Laporte, who became vice-president of World Rugby in 2020 when Bill Beaumont was re-elected as president, intends to appeal against the verdict, which also included a fine of €75,000 (about £64,000) and barred him from rugby activities for two years, although his pending appeal means this ban is suspended.

But the French sports minister, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, said that Laporte’s conviction would make it difficult for him to continue as FFR president with the World Cup looming.

“This new context prevents Bernard Laporte from being able to continue his mission under good conditions, at such a decisive moment for French rugby, as the home stretch before a Rugby World Cup, where France will receive nations from all over the world,” Oudéa-Castéra said in a statement.

Laporte, who was head coach of the French national team from 1999-2007, was accused of favouring Altrad in business deals, including one relating to the €1.8 million contract for his company to become the first shirt sponsors of France.

Altrad was found guilty and given an 18-month suspended sentence. Laporte had also been accused of interfering in a disciplinary matter on Altrad’s behalf after a disciplinary commission reduced a fine against Montpellier from €70,000 to €20,000, following an intervention from Laporte.

World Rugby’s executive committee had been due to meet to determine whether he had breached its integrity code, but Laporte pre-empted that by stepping down until the appeal against his conviction has been heard.

“World Rugby notes the decision by vice-chairman Bernard Laporte to self-suspend from all positions held within its governance structures with immediate effect following his conviction by the French court in relation to domestic matters, and pending his appeal,” a World Rugby statement said.

The verdicts are the latest scandal to hit preparations for the World Cup after Claude Atcher, the chief executive of the organising committee, was sacked in October after an investigation into his workplace conduct. Atcher was also involved in the corruption case involving Laporte