Oh please not again!

https://www.watoday.com.au/sport/rug...12-p5bp5c.html

The Western Force were the envy of Australian rugby earlier this year when headlines trumpeted a “multimillion-dollar” sponsorship deal with French construction behemoth Altrad.

In the financially stressed post-COVID world, in which the country’s largest Super Rugby franchise, the Waratahs, had not been able to attract a front-of-jersey deal of sufficient value, the Force’s four-year agreement, including player swaps and regular games in France, appeared a triumph.
Eight months on, there is doubt over whether it will see in a second season, as Mohed Altrad, the eccentric billionaire founder of his eponymous company, awaits judgment on bribery charges.

The Western Force declined to comment on the matter but will be watching with interest when the Paris Criminal Court hands down its verdict in December. Force chief executive Tony Lewis and general manager of rugby Matt Hodgson travelled to France in August to meet officials from Top 14 club Montpellier Herault, which is owned by Altrad. They were excited to kick off a strategic relationship between the clubs.

The Force are minor bystanders in the story. The case could have larger implications for New Zealand Rugby, which last year signed a six-year, $120 million deal with Altrad, also with player agreements and fixtures in Montpellier thrown in.

It also threatens the reputation and legacy of Bernard Laporte, the vice chairman of World Rugby, a SANZAAR ally and, according to Rugby World magazine, the most influential figure in the sport this year. Laporte stood trial for a range of corruption charges, including bribery, breach of trust, misuse of corporate assets and concealment of that misuse. Both men denied all charges.


Bernard Laporte (right) with Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan (centre) and World Cup bid advisory chair Sir Rod Eddington (left) last year.CREDIT:GETTY
At the centre of the case is the close and longstanding relationship between Laporte and Altrad, a colourful figure who claims to have risen from the Bedouins of Syria to become an industry titan. The Altrad Group bought Australian construction and maintenance group Valmec last year and employs more than 2000 Australians, a transaction that appeared to have opened the door for the Force.

According to French, English and Irish reporting, prosecutors built their case around an alleged “corruption pact” in which Altrad agreed a €180,000 image rights deal with Laporte in 2017.
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The former France coach and FFR president then pressured the Top 14’s appeals panel to drop sanctions against Altrad’s club, Montpellier, for the display of some protest banners at the club’s Altrad Stadium. Laporte’s intervention led to the resignations of seven panel members, it was reported.

Later that year, Altrad was confirmed as the first front-of-jersey sponsor of the French national team in a deal worth a reported $60 million. Laporte pulled out of the image rights deal after it was revealed in the media.

Both men strenuously denied the allegations, their defence lawyers claiming the case was a witch hunt designed to bring down two great contributors to French rugby.

Three other men were caught in the probe and also faced trial, including Claude Atcher, the former head of the 2023 Rugby World Cup Ltd, the organising corporation for next year’s tournament. Atcher was suspended from his post after a separate probe into workplace culture and financial impropriety. On Wednesday, he was sacked.

Neither the Force nor New Zealand Rugby had any involvement in the activities in question in the criminal case, but their sponsorship arrangements will come under scrutiny if the charges against Altrad, in particular, are affirmed in December. NZR’s deal was controversial at the time as it was coupled with a similar arrangement with British petrochemicals giant Ineos. Greenpeace accused the union of participating in “greenwashing”.

NZR declined to comment on the case or speculate on its implications. A spokeswoman said a move to the Montpellier club last month by All Blacks prop Karl Tu’inukuafe was “entirely unrelated” to the deal.

There could be further ripples for the Australian and New Zealand unions if Laporte is found guilty. The influential figure, who also served as sports minister in the government of former France president Nicolas Sarkozy, has been a close ally of the SANZAAR nations, particularly Australia and New Zealand.

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He could come under great pressure to relinquish his position at World Rugby’s top table. World Rugby and SANZAAR insiders fear a power vacuum in that instance, which could be filled by an official who favours the Six Nations teams, tilting the balance of power further away from Australia and New Zealand.

The case has also cast a pall over the reputation of the French national union less than a year out from the World Cup. The tournament is set to be a cash bonanza for World Rugby and one of the tightest in history on the field, with the host nation ranked No.2 in the world and on track for a triumph at the Stade de France next November.

But the FFR’s critics will not forget the union effectively stole the tournament from South Africa, which had been named as World Rugby’s preferred bidder, and Ireland, which came third in the voting in November 2017.

A furious period of negotiation and horse-trading eventually won France the tournament under the most surprising of circumstances. Laporte, Altrad and Atcher were the driving forces behind that coup.

We need to be careful that these two great supporters of our game albeit mainly in France are not tried and hang by media before being given a fair trial

I like many I do not know any of the facts nor have any information to make even a casual observance on what might have transpired or is purported to have taken place.

Just to let you know this is no Gee Rob SMH scoop it has been out in the media for three weeks already.

To balance out the Gee Rob SMH article I thought I would add what Altrad and Laporte's lawyers had to say:

"Last Wednesday, Altrad’s lawyer Antoine Vey, admitted that the indictment “was much heavier than all our forecasts” but countered: “The judicial process leads us here in its flaws, its excesses, its compromises. For the one I defend, his only chance is to face real magistrates.”

He also questioned any proof of an alleged corruption pact.

“There are no text messages or e-mails that demonstrate the existence of the day when, in exchange for €180,000, the original contract mutated into a corruption pact. There is nothing.”

Further questioning the proof provided by the prosecution, Vey described the PNF’s strategy thus: “Create a prejudice and, not having the proof, ask the judges to fill in the holes with prejudices.”

Subsequently, Laporte’s lawyer, Fanny Colin, highlighted “the weakness of the investigation” and the demand for “crazy penalties”, concluding: “I appeal to your humanity. Why always tarnish everything? Laporte and Altrad are two people who get along well.

I seem to recall there is a leading KC in Melbourne who's pretty adept at sending dodgy deals to the bottom of Port Phillip Bay. Maybe they should give him a bell.

Just saw a similar headline in The Worst. I can't read it because it's behind the paywall but it seems the story was written by someone else, allegedly (Quartermain?) or did they just rip it off from their competition WA Today.

Western Force face anxious wait over sponsorship deal
Glen Quartermain
The West Australian
Thu, 13 October 2022 12:27PM
https://images.thewest.com.au/public...mpolicy=wan_v3
Image: French businessman Mohed Altrad. Credit: SYLVAIN THOMAS/AFP


Western Force’s multi-million four-year sponsorship deal with French company Altrad is under threat.

The billionaire owner of the construction company, Mohed Altrad, faces judgment on bribery charges at the Paris Criminal Court in December.

The Force may be the innocent victims if he is found guilty.

As well as paying for naming rights on the Force jersey, the agreement also included a player swap with French rugby team Montpelier, which Altrad owns, as well as regular games and high performance programmes between the two teams.

The case may also have major implications for New Zealand rugby, with a $120 million, six-season Altrad sponsorship deal with the All Blacks on the line. In 2018 Altrad paid $60 million for the naming rights to the French national team jumper.

Western Force chief executive Tony Lewis said it was a wait and watch but the club could not comment.

“We are just watching the proceedings which will in time dictate what happens,” he said on Thursday.

The allegations relate to governance of the sport with Bernard Laporte, the French rugby president and vice chairman of World Rugby, accused of being the cornerstone of a system that favours Altrad.

Laporte has been accused of “passive corruption, “passive influence peddling”, “illegal taking of interests”, “breach of trust” and “concealment of abuse of corporate assets”.

Altrad has been accued of “influence peddling”, “active corruption” and “abuse of corporate assets”.

Prosecutors earlier outlined the punishments they want handed down, calling on Altrad to serve a three-year prison sentence, two of which to be suspended, a $300,000 fine, two-year bans on managing a commercial company and exercising a function in rugby.

Laporte’s lawyer, Jean-Pierre Versini-Campinchi, told the court they would fight the charges.

“For thirty years, Bernard Laporte has been winning. He is therefore a target and in the eyes of all, he is suspect. Mr Altrad? He is suspect because he is a billionaire and successful in business,” Mr Versini-Campinchi said.

The Force open their season on February 25.

https://thewest.com.au/sport/western...deal-c-8535016

Interesting to note that life carries on, Montpelliar who are likley to be the most effected have just signed ex All Black and Crusader George Bridge this morning.

Also Altrad are not short of a dollar:

2021 Financials:

Attachment 5947