Investigation promised after security breach at final
World Cup organisers will launch an investigation into an alarming security breach that occurred just prior to the presentation of the Webb Ellis Trophy to tournament winners South Africa last night.
A fan wearing an England jersey ran on to the pitch at the conclusion of the Springboks’ 15-6 defeat of England at the Stade de France, moments before the newly-crowned champions stepped up to the presentation stage to receive the trophy.
With three world leaders – Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French president Nicolas Sarkozy and South Africa president Thabo Mbeki – in attendance and only metres away from the stage, the incident could have had serious repercussions.
The supporter was accosted and led away by security guards.
But Bernard Lapasset, the head of the World Cup’s organising committee, admitted the security system “was not up to the standards we expect” and vowed to look into the matter.
“We have looked back at what happened on the video, and we will look exactly at the conditions in which it happened,” said French Rugby Federation chief Lapasset, who will take over from Dr Syd Millar as International Rugby Board (IRB) president in January.
“We will look at the systems that were in place and how this person got on the pitch.
“We have a number of checks in place, but they were obviously not effective. We will look to reinforce this system.
“We have had security procedures in place for the entire tournament, but we can’t relax these procedures, especially at a final.
“It is possible, perhaps, that the system was not up to the standards we expect. We will speak to witnesses to establish exactly what happened.”
Millar insisted appropriate steps would be taken to prevent such an incident happening again, but added the matter was out of the IRB’s hands.
“This is a matter for French security, not the IRB or the organising committee,” he said.
“It was a concern. But the security of national leaders cannot be in our hands - it is up to the country’s security.”
This World Cup has been labelled in many quarters as the best so far.
There have been plenty of surprise results, while the tournament has seen the emergence of Argentina as a force in world rugby.
Some of the supposed weaker nations, such as Fiji, Georgia and Tonga, have also flexed their muscles throughout the competition.
But there is still the fear that the next World Cup, in 2011, may be reduced from a 20-team affair to one comprising just 16 sides.
Millar again stressed no decision had been made as to the format of the competition that will be held in New Zealand in four years’ time.
“It’s the Rugby World Cup’s decision, not ours (IRB’s),” he said.
“We will review it after the World Cup. Everything is on the table and it will be examined.”
A decision will be made at the end of November, according the IRB chief executive Mike Miller.
Millar reckoned the IRB will make an anticipated profit of about €130m from the World Cup, although the Irishman did stress that was a “ballpark figure”.
