'Send the bill to Altrad': How New Zealand Rugby can navigate Mohed Altrad's sentencing

The future of All Blacks‘ multi-million dollar partnership with Altrad is uncertain after the company’s owner, Mohed Altrad, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for bribery and corruption. Former New Zealand Rugby CEO David Moffet has urged his former business to proceed with caution and expert consultation.

Moffet was Chief Executive of New Zealand Rugby (NZR) from 1996 through to 2000 and has held similar roles in the Welsh Rugby Union as well as SANZAR – prior to Argentina’s inclusion.

Navigating the repercussions of a sponsor’s sentencing is a delicate situation that Moffet says NZR should have been monitoring and seeking consultation on since the time allegations arose.

“Well the first thing I’d be concerned about,” Moffet told Brendan Telfar on The Platform. “Would be to protect the All Black brand. As we know, it’s a huge brand in sport, let alone rugby. Right around the world, it’s the most visible New Zealand brand out there. So, I would be looking at doing whatever I could to protect that brand.

“What they’ve done so far is they’ve put out a holding statement and then having a lot of discussions.

“It’s a sad day for rugby actually because it’s now embroiled World Rugby in the whole thing and it’s a bit of a shambles.

“What I would then do, having put out a holding statement – and hopefully this is what New Zealand Rugby’s been doing – because this has now been on foot, this court case, for a long time, I would have been actually seeking some world-class advice on how to protect a brand if things went south and there was convictions, as there have been in this case. There are those people that can advise you on the steps you need to take, and then I would send the bill to Altrad for having got that advice because it won’t come cheap.”

New Zealand Rugby added significantly to their business portfolio in 2022, completing deals with Silverlake, Altrad, SAP and Ineos. Vocal criticism around the Silverlake deal for the sake of business autonomy, as well as the ethical backlash over Ineos’s role in the climate crisis overshadowed the backlash around the All Blacks and Altrad’s parternship. However, discussion is now picking up over the due dilligance that went into the deal. Moffet says Altrad’s sentencing is a lose-lose for New Zealand Rugby both financially and in terms of public image.

“The next conversation I’d be having is with Silverlake because as we know, Silverlake have bought the rights to the commercial activity of New Zealand Rugby, and they will have a hugely invested interest in what happens next in this multi-million dollar sponsorship because they get a percentage of that.”

Moffet says New Zealand Rugby will have to move quickly to resolve the issue, but they’re not the only governing body in this unfortuante position.

“There’s three options… the one is to actually cancel the contract with Altrad, the other is to renegotiate a contract with Altrad and then the third one is to walk away from it.

“The other conversation they should be having, and I’m sure they are, is with the FFR, the French Rugby Union, because they also have Altrad as their sponsor and to find out what their position is.

‘If there’s any possibility of the All Black brand being tarnished from it, then you have no choice but to walk away from it.