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The player was summoned before a disciplinary hearing hours after allegations emerged
A Spanish U20s rugby player has been hit with a lengthy ban after a disciplinary panel upheld a citing of racism during a match at the Junior World Rugby Championships.
World Rugby cited Spain replacement back Mateo Aragon for an “offence contrary to law 9.12 (verbal abuse)” following their 57-32 defeat to France at the tournament in Georgia on Thursday. Aragon, who came through Bordeaux-Begles’ academy, was alleged to have made the comments to Toulon fly-half Luka Keletaona in French during the Pool D clash.
Keletaona told reporters after the match that racist remarks had been made towards him and said the incident “must not go unnoticed”. The French Rugby Federation (FFR) later confirmed that it fully supporter the playmaker and would file an official complaint to World Rugby.
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After being cited, Aragon had his case heard by a disciplinary committee on Friday, with the independent panel determining that the Spaniard had not proven that the citing should be overturned.
In terms of sanctioning, while a mid-range entry point of 12 matches was initially imposed and he did not receive full mitigation, Aragon has been banned for a total of seven matches.
In a statement issued on Sunday, World Rugby said: “An independent disciplinary has upheld a citing resulting from a referral to the independent citing commissioner by the France U20 team management regarding alleged racist verbal abuse directed at one of their players by Spain’s player Mateo Aragón during the World Rugby Junior World Championship Pool D match in Kutaisi on 2 July.
“The citing was reviewed by an independent disciplinary committee chaired by Jenifer Donovan (Ireland), joined by former player Victoria Irwin (England) and former referee Juan Pablo Spirandelli (Argentina).”There is no place in rugby or society for discrimination, abuse or hate speech, and any complaint of discrimination is taken extremely seriously by World Rugby and its disciplinary personnel.
“Having thoroughly examined match footage and audio and having considered all the available evidence, including witness statements by a number of members of the French and Spanish teams, the panel determined that the player had not proven on the balance of probabilities that the citing should be overturned.”
The statement continued: “With respect to sanctioning, the independent committee imposed a mid-range entry point of 12 matches.
“Having considered a variety of factors including the racial element of the offending, the committee decided not to award full mitigation resulting in a final sanction of seven matches.
“The player’s fixture list is to be confirmed. Under World Rugby Regulation 17, the player has 48 hours from receipt of the written decision to appeal the decision of the disciplinary committee.”While noting that emotions understandably run high when such complaints are brought, World Rugby urges the rugby family to be respectful of all individuals involved, particularly via the forum of social media. A full written decision will be available in due course.”
Speaking after Thursday’s match, Keletaona told reporters in French: “I was there to get the lads together under the posts. The Spaniards passed us and that’s when the racist remarks were made.
“Racist comments have no place on a field. It must not go unnoticed. I want it to go higher up.”
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