Football team of the National Assembly in a temporary hiatus due to dissolution

French Parliamentary Rugby Team Faces Controversy

The French parliamentary rugby team, officially launched in 2014, has found itself in the midst of a political storm recently. The team, registered as the 17th national team, has been at the centre of a controversy involving the role of Karl Olive, the co-responsible for the team, and his links with the Variétés Club de France (VCF).

Marietta Karamanli, a member of the team, expressed her regret over the "confusion of roles" in Olive's position and his ties with the VCF. This controversy has reached the headquarters of various political groups, leading to a significant development. The Socialist Party (PS) announced that its deputies would not participate in the next matches of the parliamentary XV of rugby if the National Rally (RN) is present.

The last match of the parliamentary team was organised on September 27, 2023, for the benefit of the association e-Enfance. The team's first official match was against the VCF on September 10, 2014, at the Stade Émile-Anthoine. The match was broadcast live on LCP, and the final score was 12-1 for the VCF.

The team played ten more matches up to the most recent one at the end of September 2023, before going on hiatus. This was the first time that Le Pen deputies integrated the team.

Tensions arose during a match played on September 28, 2022, for the benefit of the e-Enfance association. Deputies from La France Insoumise (LFI), PS, and ecologists from the former NUPES, joined by some colleagues from the Macronist bloc, refused to play with elected officials from the National Rally (RN).

Eric Coquerel, a deputy of La France Insoumise from Seine-Saint-Denis, played alongside Alexandre Sabatou, a young RN elected from Oise. Coquerel justified his participation reluctantly, considering it "a bit less" than playing with Sabatou's colleague Odoul, who is known as a provocateur.

Sabatou, who became a deputy in 2022, finds the quarrels between LFI and RN childish and deplorable. He supports the creation of an association with clear statutes to face political ups and downs and stay away from them. Pierre-Henri Dumont, another member of the team, shares this view.

The matter of the team's business dealings has also come under scrutiny. Ventilo Sports, an event agency that subcontracts matches for the VCF, has been exposed for its "juicy business around charity matches."

Karl Olive, the co-responsible for the team, has a clear position that all political ideas should stay out of the locker room. He advocates for transparency, independence, and adherence to a legal framework for the team. A cheque for 104,500 euros was collected for the benefit of the cardiology service of the Parisian hospital Necker-Enfants malades during one of the matches.

The French parliamentary team is expected to play again in the year 2025. The team's first official match was launched eight days before the start of the World Cup in Brazil in 2014, with Claude Bartolone, then the president of the National Assembly, posing with the tricolor jersey, surrounded by parliamentarians, mostly from the left, who had an absolute majority under the presidency of François Hollande (2012-2017).