Press release / Obituary / Albert Ferrasse

Press release

Obituary

Albert Ferrasse

The Occitan Nation Party offers its deepest sympathy to the family of Albert Ferrasse and to the family of French rugby. They have just lost one of their great figureheads. Now is the time to take stock of the Ferrasse years. These were mixed ones. As a player, Ferrasse was rough andmanly. After he became president of the French Rugby Federation, he joined the ranks of those who fought against aggressive style. Moreover, he set up the Ferrasse Foundation to help injured rugby players. The Rugby World Cup was his brainchild. He spared no effort to make it real in 1987. Leaving aside the World Cup Dream, we should bear in mind that he was instrumental as from 1974 in compelling so-called French rugby union teams and their supporters to go to Paris for the final of this major rugby competition. This is detrimental to the economy of the Occitan regions which support rugby in France. Until 1973 Bordeaux and Toulouse took turns in organizing the final. Regretfully, during his tenure as president, he waged a senseless war against rugby league. Albert Ferrasse was opposed to rugby going professional in 1995. The evolution of rugby and some financial excesses proved him right. Like most Occitan people of his generation, Albert Ferrasse spoke Occitan and knew that his last name meant shovel in French.
Gèli Grande
July 31st, 2011

Occitan Nation Party
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