TOULOUSE: Following the rejection of Spain’s appeal against rejection for fielding an ineligible player during qualifying, World Rugby stated on Monday that Spain will not compete in the Rugby World Cup in France in 2017
Following the rejection of Spain’s appeal against rejection for fielding an ineligible player during qualifying, World Rugby stated on Monday that Spain will not compete in the Rugby World Cup in France in 2017 An independent appeal committee “dismissed the case” after reviewing additional information provided by the Spanish federation, World Rugby stated in a statement.
The independent appeal committee’s judgement is definitive and cannot be appealed again, according to World Rugby regulations, it said. The decision confirmed that Portugal, the team Spain defeated to secure their place at France 2023, has accepted the seat vacated by Romania in the final qualification event taking place in November. Romania will replace Spain at the tournament next year.
African-American prop Gavin van den Berg, who has been playing in Spain since 2018, participated in two qualifiers against the Netherlands in 2020 and 2021, but was disqualified because he did not meet the three-year residence requirement set by World Rugby. Spain has already failed to qualify for the World Cup twice due to these factors.
