Cédric Chasseur with AFP / Photo credit: ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT / AFP
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7:30 p.m., September 04, 2023
A few days before the start of the Rugby World Cup, the second line of the XV of France Bastien Chalureau assured not to be racist while refuting the accusations again. The latter was sentenced in 2020 by the Toulouse Criminal Court to a suspended six-month prison sentence for “acts of violence” committed because of “the ethnicity of the victim”.
The second line of the XV of France Bastien Chalureau, caught in a controversy a few days before the start of the World Cup (September 8-October 28), assured that he was “not racist”, refuting to the charges again. The Montpellier player (31) 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 race or nationality. ethnicity of the victim”. He appealed against this judgment.
“Racism has no place in rugby”
“What I can tell you is that I confessed my mistakes, that I paid my debts and that I deny any racist remarks”, continued the international of the MHR. “We discussed with the staff of the France team: they knew from the start, the procedure is old and known to many people. I wanted to speak to you to address all my teammates, my family … (he blows). It affects not only me”, he added before bursting into tears. Bastien Chalureau was called up on Friday to replace injured club mate Paul Willemse.
While the controversy swelled during the weekend, World Rugby, the supreme body of world rugby, also took a stand on Monday. “Racism has no place in rugby,” reacted general manager Alan Gilpin, while recalling that there was a judicial principle in France, that of the presumption of innocence. As such, contacted by AFP, Me Mendel, Chalureau’s lawyer, said Monday that the appeal hearing would take place in November in Toulouse, refusing to comment further.
Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra said on Sunday that “pending the final court decision, everyone must let justice do its job calmly, respecting the presumption of innocence”.