Convicted of racism, a player called up to the French rugby team

The call-up of Bastien Chalureau to the French team, who will take the field next Friday against New Zealand at the World Cup, is causing a major controversy. The player was sentenced in 2020 to six months suspended prison sentence by the Toulouse criminal court for "acts of violence committed on the grounds of the victim’s race or ethnicity". A judgment following the complaint of two former rugby players who accused the 31-year-old player of assaulting them after an evening in Toulouse. The Montpellier second-row forward claims to have appealed his conviction, reports Le Monde.

Several left-wing personalities would have wished that the player was not called up. "My colleague deputy François Piquemal [deputy of La France insoumise from Haute-Garonne] and I will contact the Minister of Sports tomorrow to ask her to intervene and request that the French team not select him," Thomas Portes, LFI deputy, told RMC on Sunday.

"Pending the final court decision, everyone must let justice work serenely, in respect of the presumption of innocence," said Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera on Sunday, trying to end the controversy. A statement from the ministry specifies that "the minister was able to speak with Florian Grill, president of the French Rugby Federation, and with Raphaël Ibanez, general manager of the Blues, who confirmed that an exchange had taken place on the subject between Bastien Chalureau and the staff of the French XV".

The captain of the Blues, Antoine Dupont, was reassuring on Sunday, stating that this controversy over Bastien Chalureau does not affect the group and that the player has "always had an exemplary attitude, on and off the field". For his part, coach Fabien Galthié recalled that "racism has no place in the team" and that "a World Cup is not for wimps".