From the rugby pitch to the courtroom. Two years after it was held, the 2023 World Cup which will be held in France continues to be discussed. A judicial investigation has actually been opened into an organized gang fraud targeting the company managing the VIP venue market for the tournament, the Paris prosecutor’s office told AFP on Monday, after receiving a complaint from the organizing committee.
The prosecution stated that the investigation opened on Thursday targets Daimani, an online purchasing platform for so-called hospitality tickets, and some of its structures and managers, for damages that “will amount to (around) 27 million euros excluding taxes”.
This follows complaints from GIP France 2023 (organizing committee) and GIE (Economic Interest Group, which was created to be able to buy and market “hospitality and travel” rights). Both buildings are partly owned by the French Rugby Federation.
“Major failure”
At the start of the year, the Court of Auditors addressed the issue of hosting the World Cup in France, estimating that the State had committed a “gross failure” in controlling the hosting of the World Cup. Much damage and financial loss was recorded.
The Court of Auditors’ report later pinpointed first and foremost the responsibility of the first general director of the organizing committee, Claude Atcher, that the French Rugby Federation (FFR) and the State were also involved “because of the gross failures recorded in the control they should have exercised over the organizing committee”, according to the financial judge.
As a reminder, beyond the “undeniable popular, media and sporting success” acknowledged by the Court of Auditors report, the World Cup has left a trail and a gaping financial hole that endangers the French Rugby Federation.
“Financial goals have not been achieved and the resources remaining for rugby heritage are almost zero,” said Pierre Moscovici, the first president of the Court of Auditors, at a press conference.
