The former France head coach is facing the charges alongside Mohed Altrad, President of Top 14 side Montpellier, and the recently suspended head of the 2023 Rugby World Cup Organising Committee Claude Atcher.

Laporte is accused to have sold his image rights and appear in Altrad conferences for €180,000 (£157,000/$179,000) but never provided the services.

Altrad's eponymous construction company became the first-ever sponsor to appear of the French national team's shirts following a €1.8 million (£1.5 million/$1.8 million) deal in 2017.

This has resulted in accusations of Laporte using undue influence to secure the sponsorship for Altrad.

The plaintiffs, François-Xavier Dulin and Céline Guillet, have requested that Altrad be fined €200,000 (£175,000/$199,000) and Laporte €50,000 (£43,000/$49,000) and both men be sentenced to three years in prison.

FFR vice-president Serge Simon and Atcher's business partner at marketing company Score XV Benoît Rover are also targeted by the prosecution.

A one-year sentence in prison and six-month suspended term, €10,000 (£8,700/$9,900) fine and one-year ban from any rugby function has been recommended for Simon.

Rover and Atcher's company Score XV is alleged to have received money from the FFR which was diverted Laporte for non-existent services.

A recommendation of a one-year jail sentence, six months of which are suspended, a three-year ban on managing a commercial company and a one-year ban on any function connected to rugby has been made.

They also want Atcher to face a €50,000 fine.

Atcher was suspended by the French Sports Ministry at the end of last month as it investigated accusations that he oversaw a "climate of terror" within the World Cup Organising Committee.

A report in L'Équipe detailed how employees had "suffered panic attacks and burn-out amid humiliating verbal abuse."