Disgraced Laporte appointed director of rugby at Altrad's Montpellier / Photo: Alain JOCARD - AFP/File
-
Mercedes-Benz cuts 2026 profit outlook on tough China market
-
Madushanka wrecks Pakistan as Sri Lanka press for final slot
-
Reparations calls follow Charles on tough Caribbean trip
-
Destructive Abhishek 113 leads India to series win over New Zealand
-
Jammu and Kashmir ministers resign before planned council expansion
-
Norway, Finland leaders hold 'frank and substantive' talk with Putin
-
Germany, EU, stable investment stops despite upheaval: Merz
-
Wall Street faces earnings and Fed tests after turbulent technology-led week
-
China brands drop Mbappe for 'offending national sentiments'
-
Ukraine, Russia say US-brokered truce holding in ravaged city
-
India orders evacuations as Cyclone Arnab looms
-
Police form SIT after vehicles in Rahul Gandhi convoy collide on expressway
-
Dutch broadcaster pulls out of Eurovision over Israel 'sensitivities'
-
Delhi grants minimum monthly pay and DA to about 4,000 MCD health workers
-
Critical coal inventories affect nearly half of India’s domestic power plants
-
Ather Energy shares climb 14% after quarterly profit and expansion plan
-
FCNR(B) deposit drive puts sharper margin pressure on private banks
-
Gold ETF flows turn negative after 13 weeks as bullion loses 4%
-
Noel Tata requests records of September 17 Tata Sons board meeting
-
Pakistan's last antique restorers give old treasures new life
-
Reparations calls to dog King Charles's tough Caribbean trip
-
India braces for Cyclone Arnab with evacuations
-
Global rates and foreign outflows remain key risks for Indian markets
-
Steel Strips Wheels gains 36% in two sessions on growth outlook
-
Neha Nagar says ₹3 crore can fund retirement with disciplined planning
-
Cavs edge T'Wolves in overtime despite superb Edwards
-
Vikas Satija says steady SIP flows shielded Indian equities from deeper losses
-
Prescott fires Cowboys to 38-21 win over plummeting Eagles
-
Brewers rout Rays to reach brink of World Series sweep
-
Kuwait padel chief hails national showing at Premier Padel Major
-
Mbappe dropped by Chinese brands for 'offending national sentiments'
-
Britain prepares constrained budget as debt and defence pressures mount
-
Kuwait exhibition presents Ukraine’s Islamic heritage and cultural ties
-
Valkyries beat Dream to reach brink of WNBA title
-
Tech firms track Wall St rally on mixed day for Asian markets
-
Benjamin Netanyahu: Israel's longest-serving PM fighting for survival
-
Jay-Z to perform at Super Bowl LXI halftime show: NFL
-
Kuwait receives invitation to 2026 UN Water Conference in Abu Dhabi
-
Climate-threatened Fijian utopia rejects calls to relocate
-
Arab World Institute president outlines plans for stronger Kuwait-France cultural links
-
Israel to give verdict on Netanyahu in pivotal election
-
Bolsonaro's party says it recognizes Lula's election win in Brazil
-
$1m bounties, dawn arrests: Trump presses voter fraud campaign
-
Meghan on TV menu for 'Junior MasterChef Australia'
-
Gasping for air: Borneo residents struggle as island burns
-
South Korea's chip boom fuels forecast-beating third-quarter growth
-
Doha exhibition charts a millennium of Chinese maritime ceramics trade
-
US-brokered truce begins in Ukraine city occupied by Russia
-
New Zealand ex-PM Ardern to teach leadership in Sydney
-
Qatar launches Fashion and Crafts Council to connect talent with global markets
Disgraced Laporte appointed director of rugby at Altrad's Montpellier
Controversial former French Rugby Federation (FFR) president Bernard Laporte has been appointed director of rugby of struggling Montpellier, the Top 14 club's billionaire owner Mohed Altrad said on Saturday.
Former France head coach Laporte resigned from his FFR post in January after being found guilty of favouritism in awarding a shirt sponsorship contract for the national side to Altrad.
Laporte is appealing the ruling.
Montpellier, champions in 2022, sit bottom of the French Top 14 table after Saturday's 23-16 loss to Perpignan.
"We've decided to go and get one of the French people that knows world rugby the best," Syrian-born Altrad told newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.
"Bernard Laporte has a winning culture, leadership, team spirit.
"It's all the values of rugby that we hold dear. He incarnates the spirit our team needs," he added.
In December, former sports minister Laporte was handed a two-year suspended prison sentence for his financial dealings with Altrad.
He was also banned from holding any rugby post for two years, but that is suspended pending his appeal.
"I don't have a comment to make about a process that is under appeal," Altrad said.
"My state of mind is to focus on the club and rugby emergency," he added.
Laporte also resigned from his role as World Rugby vice-chairman, months before France hosted this year's Rugby World Cup.
The 59-year-old guided Les Bleus to the World Cup semi-finals in 2003 and 2007 as head coach and has club experience with the likes of Stade Francais and Toulon.
He will hope to turn things around at Montpellier working above head coach and former England front-row forward Richard Cockerill.
Their next game is hosting promoted Oyonnax on Saturday.
Laporte replaces fellow ex-France boss Philippe Saint-Andre, who remains at Montpellier to deal with the sport's authorities, Altrad said.
L.Davis--AMWN
