Fans ready for new rugby stadium

FRENCH rugby fans could soon get their own 82,000-seater stadium as the Fédération Française de Rugby revealed it was in the process of choosing a short list of architects and choosing from six sites round Paris.

The FFR said it had received 21 bids for the contract to design the €600 million stadium which would end its reliance on the unloved Stade de France in Saint-Denis.

Now FFR president Serge Blanco and the stadium committee will meet tomorrow in Biarritz to start to whittle down the list of bidders and possible venues.

The federation says that at the moment it is too dependent on outside influences on deciding when internationals can be played and an ultra-modern stadium would give it customised facilities which could allow it to develop the game in France and also host other international events.

At the moment the FFR is looking at sites in Achères (78), Evry Centre Essonne (91), Val d’Orge (91), Massy and Paris-Saclay (91), Sevran (93), and Orly-Rungis-Seine Amont (94).