Former French Rugby head coach Guy Noves has been given €1million by an industrial tribunal against the FFR following his dismissal in 2017.
Noves was sacked after suffering six straight defeats between June and November 2017, a record federation chief Bernard Laporte thought unacceptable. That made him the first French coach to ever be sacked as the FFR alleged he was guilty of serious misconduct.
However, the tribunal decided otherwise and awarded Noves the sum, after he originally looked for €2.88million and sided with Noves who claimed they had failed to uphold their employment procedures during his dismissal.
Both sides may appeal the decision however, speaking after Noves told reporters he was content with the outcome.
“We have been waiting for this result for 15 months. We got it. I’m satisfied. My honour is clean. There is no serious fault on my part, and it is the most important. It’s satisfying. Is it behind me? I do not know because it’s hard to suffer this kind of accusation. I did not deserve that. It’s a relief, but I’ll never forget. Personally, I am satisfied with the result and I will not appeal,” he said.
Noves was originally contracted to lead France to the Rugby World Cup in Japan later this year, although his successor Jacques Brunel has arguably left them in a worse position heading into the tournament. He himself appears to be on the way out after the competition as they appear set to replace yet another coach.
