Charged the player whose falsified documentation left the Spanish rugby team out of the World Cup

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• Chronicle The wedding photo in South Africa that condemned the Spanish rugby team

New twist in the

scandal that has done so much damage to Spanish rugby.

Before the summer, the manipulation of the documentation of that South African-born player led to a sanction for improper alignment

.

The fraud consisted of pretending, by falsifying a stamp on a photocopy of a passport, that in 2019 he had completed the minimum stay required in our country to align himself with the

.

As EL MUNDO has confirmed with sources familiar with the case,

.

He will do so as an investigated (defendant, according to the previous terminology) in a crime of documentary falsification.

This was requested by the Spanish Rugby Federation, a person in the case.

Against Gavin Van den Berg no sporting sanctions or legal measures weighed so far.

For this reason

in the ranks of Benfica.

A situation that has outraged his former teammates.

When the case was uncovered, the Spanish Rugby Federation informed the Prosecutor's Office that three people had accused themselves in writing of the falsification of Van den Berg's documents: his then coaches at Alcobendas Rugby Tiki Inchausti and Fernando Diez, and his then partner Team Jano Cherr.

The fact that, despite what they claimed, Van den Berg was not aware of the manipulation was received with skepticism from the first day.

Despite this, the Spanish Federation, chaired at the time by Alfonso Feijoo, did not provide any evidence against him in his defense before the first committee of the International Federation (World Rugby) that examined the facts and that ended up sanctioning the team.

The first line did state that he had signed the application ensuring that he understood and met the residence conditions to be aligned with Spain.

After knowing the punishment, the

His manager and his colleagues declared to EL MUNDO that he had been informed of the conditions, he had been asked if he complied with them and he had always replied that there was no problem.

They argued that, even in the hypothetical case that Van den Berg did not know that his papers had been manipulated, he should at least know how long his summer trip abroad had lasted in 2019 and that this prevented him from playing as a Spaniard.

The indications against Gavin Van den Berg were provided later, before the appeal committee that had to reverse or confirm the sanction against the team.

Only then did the Spanish Federation provide the

of a conversation between Jano Cherr and Gavin Van den Berg dated November 16 and 17, 2021.

"I need to pass my documents to you

," the newly accused told Jano Cherr.

replied Cherr, considered the alleged material author of the fraud;

His defense has maintained that he limited himself to acting as a mediator with another unidentified person.

The screenshots show how

and the recipient asks him what to do.

These elements, which suggest that the South African striker was aware of the manipulation of his papers, were provided by Jano Cherr in an appeal in which he pointed directly to

.

Due to his collaboration with the former FER board, Cherr saw his sports sanction reduced by half, which ended in two and a half years of license deprivation.

At the turn of the summer,

At the same time, in accordance with the regulations, the disciplinary procedure opened against the player in the sports field was suspended until the ordinary Justice ruled.

The now confirmed imputation is the first step.

The player joins the three people who declared themselves directly responsible for the forgery as investigated

.

There are also two others and a sixth that he will testify as a witness.

The case is in the investigation phase.

When the information has been collected, the court will decide whether to file it or open an abbreviated procedure that would lead to an oral hearing.

That is, all those involved still enjoy the presumption of innocence.

Regardless of what happens in the ordinary judicial route, the sports route is closed for the Spanish team.

A first committee of the International Federation (World Rugby) punished her for improper alignment, the appeal committee confirmed the sanction without taking into account the evidence against Van den Berg and the CAS dismissed a last appeal because, in the field of rugby, it did not is competent in disciplinary matters.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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