The French Rugby Federation (, ; FFR) is the governing body for

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It is responsible for the French national team and the

Ligue nationale de rugby The National Rugby League (, LNR) manages the professional rugby union clubs in France, by delegation of the Minister of Sports and the French Rugby Federation. It organises and regulates the two French rugby club divisions, Top 14 and Pro D2, p ...

that administers the country's professional leagues.

History

Before the FFR was established, football,

and other sports in France were regulated by the

Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques The Union of French Athletic Sports Societies () was a sports governing body in France. During the 1890s and early 1900s it organised numerous sports including athletics, cycling, field hockey, fencing, croquet, and swimming. However it is perh ...

(USFSA). Founded in November 1890, the USFSA was initially headquartered in Paris, but its membership soon expanded to include sports clubs from throughout France.''The Official History of the Olympic Games and the IOC- Athens to Beijing, 1894–2008'': David Miller (2008) The FFR was formed in 1919 and is affiliated to

World Rugby World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...

, the sport's governing body. In 1934 the FFR set up the ''Fédération internationale de rugby amateur'', now known as

Rugby Europe Rugby Europe is the administrative body for rugby union in Europe. It was formed in 1999 to promote, develop, organise, and administer the game of rugby in Europe under the authority of World Rugby (the sport's global governing body). However, it ...

, in an attempt to organise rugby union outside the authority of World Rugby, then known as the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB). It included the national teams of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Following German occupation, FFR officials closely associated with the Vichy government lobbied to have certain "un-French" sports banned. Between the end of 1940 and the middle of 1942, one semi-professional and at least six French Amateur Sport Federations were banned and destroyed by the Vichy regime.Badge of dishonour: French rugby's shameful secret
from ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 6 September 2007, retrieved 21 March 2015 These actions were independently verified by the French government in 2002. In 1978 the federation became a member of the IRFB, which later became the International Rugby Board and is now

Presidents

Bernard Lapasset Bernard Lapasset (20 October 1947 – 3 May 2023) was a French rugby administrator who was Chairman of the World Rugby from 2008 to 2016. He previously served as President of the French Federation of Rugby Union from 1991 to May 2008, when P ...

(1991–2008) * Pierre Camou (2008–2016) *

Bernard Laporte Bernard Laporte (born 1 July 1964) is a rugby player, coach and former French Secretary of State for Sport. From 1999 to 2007, Laporte was the head coach of the France national team. In 2011, he became the head coach at Toulon, after Philippe ...

(2016–2023) * Alexandre Martinez (interim) (2023) * Florian Grill (2023–present)

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Rugby Rugby union governing bodies in Europe National members of World Rugby Sports organizations established in 1919 1919 establishments in France

History

Presidents

See also

References

External links