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Rugby World Cup Organisers Threatened With Legal Action

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The 2023 Rugby World Cup is facing more issues after the Daily Mail reported that English kit manufacturer, Rhino, has threatened legal action against the tournament organisers.

According to the Daily Mail, the company, who has supplied training kit for the last three World Cups, claims that they were refused a meeting with officials during the bidding process for the 2023 tournament and lost out to a lesser-known company, Aramis.

Rhino has serious concerns about the bidding process and has sent a legal letter to the organising committee, asking them to open an investigation into the award of contracts.

The letter said that Rhino was told they had to supply the training kit free of charge and pay a considerable cash sum, while Aramis was not asked to pay.

This represents a change of approach from previous World Cups, when Rhino received a fee of around £800,000 for supplying unbranded equipment.

The legal letter also notes that many of the staff involved in the award of contracts have subsequently left the organising committee.

Rhino believes that the refusal of Rugby World Cup staff to engage with them merits an investigation into the award of the contract, but they have yet to receive a response from the organizing committee.

The legal threat comes on the heels of multiple issues surrounding the 2023 Rugby World Cup, where organising committee chief executive, Claude Atcher, was fired last October, and French police raided the Paris headquarters the following month in an investigation into alleged financial irregularities.

The president of the French Rugby Federation, Bernard Laporte, was also found guilty of multiple corruption charges and given a two-year suspended prison sentence last month.

Additionally, the organisers are yet to respond to Rhino’s legal letter.

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