Sawt Falasteen - French rugby great Blanco eyes bid for Biarritz mayorship

Now a rugby administrator and a businessman with his own clothing brand, 67-year-old Blanco played 93 times for France scoring 38 tries -- a record until it was beaten by Damian Penaud last month.

Since his playing career ended, the Venezuelan-born Basque has had a long career in rugby administration.

As well as taking charge of Biarritz, he has been president of the French Rugby League body that organises and regulates the country's top two divisions, the Top 14 and Pro D2, and vice-president of the French Rugby Federation.

"For the last 10-or-so years, I've seen Biarritz fracture. The pact of confidence between the people of Biarritz and their town hall is broken," Blanco said in a statement to AFP.

"The cohesion between the neighbourhoods has been weakened, the direction has been lost. It is this observation that leads me to run for office.

"I am, above all, a child of Biarritz: sportsman, entrepreneur, father. I am not defending a political career, I am defending a city."

The elections in the coastal city of 25,000 people, which traditionally votes to the right, take place in March.

Born in Caracas, Blanco moved to Biarritz with his Basque mother aged two after the death of his Venezuelan father.

He played his entire career with Biarritz but never won any trophies, with his final match being a defeat in the 1992 French championship final.

He was also part of the French team that lost the inaugural Rugby World Cup final to New Zealand in 1987.

But he did manage to win the Five Nations six times with France, twice securing the Grand Slam.

R.Shaban--SF-PST