Exclusive The Instagram of a Romanian player can give Spain back its options to go to the Rugby World Cup
The legal team of the
Spanish Rugby Federation
is considering presenting an appeal to
World Rugby
in the coming weeks after hearing the news published by
EL MUNDO
in relation to the possible irregularities committed by
Romania
when it came to fielding
Jason Tomane
.
"After the news offered this Tuesday by the newspaper 'El Mundo' about a possible doubt or irregularity in the eligibility of the New Zealander Jason Tomane by Romania, the Spanish Rugby Federation (FER) announces that it has transferred this information to its legal services so that they are the ones who continue with the procedure against the Romanian Federation itself and World Rugby, "says the Spanish Federation in its statement.
The Federation understands that there are similarities between the case published by this medium and the situation that occurred last April with
Gavin Van den Berg
.
Due to irregularities in the passport of the player of South African origin, the Spanish team has been deprived of its participation in the World Cup.
Specifically, it was the
photos of a wedding
that revealed that the player had spent more than 60 days outside the Spanish borders in the years prior to debuting with the National Team.
The case of Jason Tomane is similar.
The player would have lived outside Romanian territory, specifically in
Hungary
, for about three months during the summer of 2019. Despite this, he made his debut in November 2021 against
the Netherlands
.
After the aforementioned meeting, he was in the game against
Portugal, Spain and Georgia
.
The fact that both countries belong to the
Schengen area
does not exempt the player, as stated by World Rugby in its jurisprudence.
"Exceptional circumstances"
Romania
argues that
Tomane
's situation is legal as World Rugby is aware of it.
"According to Romanian law, in order to obtain a valid residence visa for our country, the applicant must apply from outside the country. As in all matters related to eligibility, the case was studied by the World Rugby Regulations Commission , which verified and supported the exceptional circumstances that caused the player to be out of the country for longer than allowed, while circumstances totally unrelated to the player lengthened the player's visa application process," they explain.
If there had been any irregularity when lining up Tomane, it would not have prescribed.
When Romania files the complaint against Spain for the alignment of Gavin Van den Berg, it does so
after the deadline.
However, the international federation understands that, as the Romanians were not aware of this situation until a Russian media picked up the news, the offense has not prescribed.
In other words, it was considered that the statute of limitations for the irregularity committed by Spain began to run from when Romania became aware of the facts, not from the moment they occurred.
Now, the Spanish Federation could use the same argument so that its request is heard.
If this case is resolved favorably for Spain, the team led by
Santi Santos
would not directly access the World Cup, but would have to go to the
playoffs
.
To regain second place it is necessary for World Rugby to consider the Spanish appeal in relation to the Van den Berg case, otherwise, it would be
Portugal
who would go to the World Cup.
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