Following German occupation, FFR officials closely associated with the Vichy government lobbied to have certain "un-French" sports banned. Between the end of 1940 and the middle of 1942, one semi-professional and at least six French Amateur Sport Federations were banned and destroyed by the Vichy regime. These actions were independently verified by the French government in 2002.
In 1978 the Federation became a member of the IRB.