2023-09-05 22:26:42
By Le Figaro with AFP
Posted 5 hours ago, Updated 21 minutes ago
Pierre Rabadan, former rugby player and sports assistant for the City of Paris. STEPHANIE LECOCQ / REUTERS
City of Paris sports assistant Pierre Rabadan said on Tuesday that he would not have selected Bastien Chalureau for the Rugby World Cup, three years after a conviction for racist violence which he appealed.
Asked about the controversy during a press visit to the “rugby village”, the fan zone set up at Place de la Concorde for the kick-off of the World Cup on Friday, the former player of the Stade Français and the XV of France explained that he would not have made this choice: “It’s a complicated subject. I know very well the‘history because I know of players he has assaulted. HAS Personally, I don’t think I would have taken him in the group that was preparing for the World Cup.
The elected official then added: “Now it is the choice of the France team. He is presumed innocent, at least on the qualification of racist acts. Before concluding: We must respect the presumption of innocence but yes, it is problematic”.
Bastien Chalureau, called on Friday to replace injured Paul Willemse, was sentenced in 2020 by the Toulouse Criminal Court to a six-month suspended prison sentence for “acts of violence with the circumstance that these were committed because of the race or ethnicity of the victim”. He appealed against this judgment.
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