French Rugby faces $57m loss from World Cup 2023, watchdog reports

All Blacks Aaron Smith and Beauden Barrett walk about before the opening match of the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Photo / Photosport

“Major failures” in the French government’s oversight of the 2023 Rugby World Cup led to heavy financial losses and left the French Rugby Federation in difficulty, the state’s financial watchdog has said.

The French Court of Accounts pointed the finger at the first head of the tournament’s organising committee, Claude Atcher, but also said the French federation (FFR) and the government had to bear some responsibility “because of major failures in the control they should have exercised over the organising committee”.

Despite promises that the tournament would generate big profits, it led to heavy financial losses, especially for the FFR.

“Everyone won, except the [French] organisers,” the court’s president Pierre Moscovici said at a press conference.

The tournament was an “undeniable success with the public, the media and in a sporting sense”, but generated financial losses which could reach up to nearly 29 million euros ($57.16m) once related legal cases have been resolved.

“The financial targets were not met and the legacy resources left behind for rugby are virtually nil,” Moscovici said.

He said the FFR gave unrealistic commitments to World Rugby to secure the hosting of the tournament.

The international federation “achieved the best financial result in its history” from the tournament while the FFR made “a minimum loss of 19.2 million euros, rising to 28.9 million euros”, Moscovici said.

The government only really became involved in the organisation in 2022 following a crisis in the organising committee when Atcher was removed over concerns over his management style.

Moscovici said he was concerned that “the French government does not have a clear, substantiated doctrine for analysing the conditions under which it provides its support” for the organisation of an international competition.

He said he hoped the recommendations contained in the report would be heeded by the organisers of the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps.

The French Court of Accounts was closely involved in the oversight of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics and is expected to produce a report in June.

Atcher, in a formal right to reply to the report on the Rugby World Cup, claimed that “the catastrophic management of the event after my departure deprived French rugby of nearly 50 million euros in earnings”.