Jacques Raynaud has become the new chief executive of the European Professional Club Rugby, replacing Anthony Lepage who held the role on an interim basis ©EPRC

Former Eurosport vice-chairman Jacques Raynaud has been named as chief executive of the European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR).

The EPCR has announced the appointment of Raynaud after carrying out, what it claimed, was a "rigorous global search".

Raynaud is set to begin the role at the end of the season, replacing interim chief executive Anthony Lepage, who is due to begin the organisation’s new chief operating officer.

The Frenchman’s arrival comes with six months to go before his home country is scheduled to stage the Rugby World Cup.

The EPCR, which organises the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup, announced that Raynaud will be responsible for "accelerating the delivery" of its new strategy.

"I am delighted to be joining EPCR at such an exciting time," said Raynaud.

"I have been impressed by the Board's new strategy and vision for the tournaments and look forward to playing my part in delivering this with the team.

"I am very much looking forward to working with the team at EPCR as well as all stakeholders and playing my part in enhancing the tournaments that form the very pinnacle of international club rugby."

The EPCR said Jacques Raynaud will be responsible for leading its new strategy ©Getty Images
The EPCR said Jacques Raynaud will be responsible for leading its new strategy ©Getty Images

Raynaud, currently chief executive of web-based television platform MyTVchain, has a wealth of experience in the sports media industry.

He has held the role of executive vice-president at Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland and was vice-chairman of Eurosport from 2006 to 2010.

"We are absolutely delighted to welcome Jacques Raynaud as the new chief executive of EPCR," said EPCR chairman Dominic McKay.

"He is an outstanding candidate in a very strong field who has been selected after a rigorous global search.

"Jacques’ background, particularly within the multimedia and commercial environments, will enable EPCR’s Board and leadership team to deliver against our key priorities in these areas.

"I very much look forward to working closely with Jacques to further develop our great tournaments, the Heineken Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup.

"I would like to thank Anthony Lepage who has led the EPCR team extremely well in recent seasons delivering many new initiatives and putting the organisation on the right track to accelerate development."