The world of multinational sponsorship can produce some awkward moments and their might be a few eyebrows raised at the thought that one major firm is seen to be backing the two most likely winners of the Rugby World Cup Bid Process for 2023.
On the day that World Rugby were shown around some of the venues that are central to the Irish bid, it emerged that Deloitte, who are the lead advisers to the IRFU, have entered, through their French division, into a sponsorship agreement to back France’s bid.
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It is believed that they will be advising on budgeting and finance elements of the bid, at a lesser level of involvement that the Dublin team has but nevertheless a potential conflict which would need to be managed well internally.
Their involvement was announced by French Rugby Union President Bernard Laporte alongside that of transport provider SNCF.
“We are very pleased to be able to count on the expertise of these two companies with world-renowned know-how to help us in our application,” he said.
“This support again illustrates the strong mobilisation of the economic world behind #France2023.”
Deloitte were named as the lead advisers to the Irish bid team back in September 2015. They have been key players in nudging Ireland ahead in the perception of who might be best placed to host the Rugby World Cup and expand World Rugby’s ambitions.
They have a strong sports reputation, having bean lead advisers to London winning the Olympic Games bid for 2012.
They were the firm selected to investigate and report on Governance issues at the Olympic Council of Ireland after the Rio Games in 2016.
