England players suffered racist abuse from Argentina fans, who escape punishment
The incident, which took place as the visitors' bench warmed up behind the posts during the first half, was highlighted by England's players and management after the match, with an official complaint raised with World Rugby. Among England's replacements that day were prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour and back-rower Chandler Cunningham-South. It is understood the incident was a verbal, racist assault.
The sport's global governing body said in a statement that it undertook 'an immediate and thorough investigation, involving witness statements, video analysis, and other lines of enquiry'.
Working alongside the Unión Argentina de Rugby, World Rugby concluded that it was 'clear' an incident took place but regretted that the individuals responsible could not be identified. There will be no punishment for the UAR, but a stipulation to develop an fan education plan to prevent future occurrence.
'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,' added the statement from the governing body.
'Working with World Rugby, the [UAR] has developed an action plan to enhance their operations, educate fans and better prevent such unacceptable incidents from occurring again.'
Brett Robinson, World Rugby's chair, outlined his thanks to the UAR 'for [its] cooperation both in attempting to identify the individuals involved and for swiftly developing a comprehensive plan which we believe will make such incidents less likely in future'.
Identifying the small number of abusers involved was made all the more difficult by the fact that seating in San Juan, just as in La Plata a week earlier, was unreserved. Tickets were valid for a specific stand only and, therefore, fans were able to move freely during the match. Therefore, it has proved impossible to identify the abusers via ticketing information and without video footage of the stands at the exact moment that the incident took place.
Gabriel Travaglini, UAR president, stated: 'We strongly condemn all acts of racism and stand in solidarity with the England Rugby players who felt aggrieved. Upon learning of the incidents, intense efforts were made to identify the small group of five or seven individuals responsible within a crowd of over 20,000 spectators.
'Unfortunately, despite an exhaustive search, it was not possible to identify the perpetrators. We will continue to work collaboratively with World Rugby to educate the fans and eradicate any similar manifestations in the future, ensuring that our events are spaces of respect and inclusion for everyone.'
Bill Sweeney, the Rugby Football Union's chief executive, said: 'There is absolutely no place for racism in our sport – or in any society – and these incidents must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.
'Every player, regardless of their background, has the right to represent their country with pride and dignity, free from discrimination and abuse. We are in close contact with the players affected and have offered them our full support.'
England have just returned from a three-Test trip to Argentina and the US, winning the series 2-0 against Los Pumas before defeating the US Eagles in Washington DC last Saturday.
This is not the first time that Argentinian sport has been at the centre of a racism storm of late. In July 2024, following Argentina's Copa América triumph, a video surfaced of Enzo Fernández and other Argentinian players on the team bus allegedly chanting in a racist manner about the origin of France's players. The French Football Federation lodged a complaint to Fifa and Fernández privately apologised to his Chelsea team-mates, one of whom was the French player Wesley Fofana, and donated to an anti-discrimination charity.
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