By David Reyrat
Published ,
Update
Bernard Laporte has lost none of his outspokenness… Jonathan Rebboah / Jonathan Rebboah / Panoramic
On RMC Sport this Sunday evening, the new Director of Rugby at Montpellier, last in the Top 14, responded to those who criticize his return to rugby.
Back in the rugby world as director of the Montpellier clubBernard Laporte spoke on Sunday evening during the “Bartoli Time” show on RMC Sport . And the former president of the FFR, forced to resign after his conviction for corruption at first instance in the Laporte-Altrad trial – he appealed, suspending the sentences – has regained all his outspokenness.
Asked whether his nomination was likely to raise eyebrows, “Bernie” replied: “My return annoys the idiots. But there are idiots everywhere and those don’t interest me.» And if that wasn’t clear enough, he added a second layer: “The jealous and the bitter, I don’t answer them, and above all I don’t listen to them. It’s that simple.»
Read alsoRugby: the sulfurous return to business of Bernard Laporte
The presumption of innocence is the presumption of innocence.
Bernard Laporte
Bernard Laporte also recalled his legal situation. “There is a law in France. In France there is a presumption of innocence. I am convinced that I did nothing. There is justice and I will respect it but the presumption of innocence is the presumption of innocence. I am not prevented from coaching today, from working in professional rugby. I don’t see why anyone should blame me for anything as long as it’s legal.»
Finally, on the fact that he signed a three-year contract with the president of the MHR, Mohed Altrad, while the appeal trial is scheduled for early 2025, he did not argue. In the event of a final conviction on appeal? “I am banned from being president of the Federation. But of course I can stay in post (in Montpellier)“, he says. Statements which risk not pleading in his favor with the magistrates who will have to retry his case…