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Nomination stage begins to find Bill Beaumont's World Rugby successor
By Josh Raisey
The nominations window for the 2024 World Rugby elections has opened to find the successor to Chair Sir Bill Beaumont after eight years in the role.
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Nominations are open from September 23 to October 15 2024, whereupon the elections will be held on November 14 in Dublin, with the 52 members of the World Rugby Council voting for a new Chair, Vice-Chair and Executive Board members.
The elections are the first under a governance model introduced in 2022 following an independent review. In accordance with Bye-Law 9, Council members will elect a new Chair first, followed by the election of six members to the Executive Board, from which a Vice-Chair will be elected.
The Executive Board will comprise two northern hemisphere High Performance Unions, two southern hemisphere High Performance Unions, one non-High Performance Union and one regional association member, who will be elected for an initial four-year term.
Beaumont, who replaced Bernard Lapasset as Chair in July 2016, can no longer stand having served a maximum of two terms.
To be eligible, candidates for the role must be members of the World Rugby Council and be nominated by a member union or regional association. All nominated candidates will be independently vetted by the World Rugby Independent Ethics Officer, a position introduced as part of the new integrity code in 2022.
Nominations have opened just days after Vice-Chair John Jeffrey, one of the favourites to succeed Beaumont, ended his bid after failing to receive backing from his own union, Scottish Rugby.
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The Chair will become independent upon election and will join the EventsCo Board.
The election for Vice-Chair will follow the same secret ballot process, with the candidate receiving the most votes being appointed.
Candidates will need a simple majority to be elected. Voting will be conducted by secret ballot, overseen by independent scrutineers, with voting numbers being published.