Puma scandal: 'messy weather' in the squad and slap on the wrist for Matera at his club in France

12/01/2020 19:07

• Clarín.com

• sports

Updated 12/01/2020 19:07

After the scandal that was generated on Monday, when old messages of racist content published on Twitter by Pablo Matera, today already a former captain of Los Pumas,

,

came to light

, the team worked this Tuesday with the objective set in the Wallabies.

But the climate of tension was felt in training, as this newspaper could find out.

"This is a mess,"

a staff source commented to Clarín from ocean lands, where the team held a new training session, in which several were seen with long faces.

All three players involved in the scandal participated in practice.

In the early hours of Tuesday, a version had circulated that indicated that the UAR had also decided to withdraw the Argentine team from the

, in which the team led by Mario Ledesma will close its participation this Saturday -at 5.45 in our country- before Australia in Sydney.

Although it was quickly denied.

Matera apologized on her Instagram account.

The shocks that began with the questioned tribute to Diego Maradona and continued with the appearance of old tweets of misogynistic and racist content on the account of Matera, Socino and Petti also had their reaction at the

, the club where the now former plays -captain of Los Pumas.

"After the revelations of some media, the publications made in 2012 by its player Pablo Matera on the social network Twitter, the Stade Français de Paris club wishes to mark its total opposition with these unacceptable comments and observations," the institution said in a statement. to later point out the faultless conduct that the Argentine showed since he joined the club.

After the slap on the wrist from the Stade Français, the club stressed that "since his arrival at the club in December 2019, he has always been irreproachable in his attitude towards his teammates and opponents, both on and off the pitch."

One of Pablo Matera's tweets from 2012.

"Upon his return from the national team, the player, who has already publicly apologized, will be summoned by the club's management," he added.  

At the same time, the Argentine Rugby Union announced sanctions: it

and at the same time suspended

until the situation is resolved.

In addition, the

expressed its concern over these messages and ratified its commitment to continue working "for a sport free of discrimination."

Petti's offer of apology.

The controversy was generated on Saturday when Los Pumas took to the field to face the All Blacks, more than two days after the death of Diego Maradona, and only remembered Ten with a black ribbon that was barely visible in the arms of the players .

People's criticism rained down, expecting a greater tribute.

The Argentine players apologized on Monday for that tepid gesture and assured that as a team "they want to continue Diego's legacy."

But the criticism increased then, because in response to the apologies of the team, some Twitter users exposed old tweets with racist messages that Matera,

and

wrote on their accounts several years ago.

Hours later, the three players apologized through statements posted on their Instagram accounts - Matera and Petti had closed theirs on Twitter after their tweets went viral - and the

announced harsh sanctions.

The message of the Secretary of Sports of the Nation in relation to the controversy over the tweets of Los Pumas.

The Secretary of Sports of the Nation also released a statement in this regard: "The Secretariat expresses its concern and pain at the discriminatory messages expressed, through social networks, by several players of our national rugby team some time ago Despite the fact that the expressions are several years old, they are extremely serious due to their misogynistic and racist content. Wearing the shirt of our country is much more than playing, and these sayings should not be overlooked, "said the leading body. by Matías Lammens.

And he added: "We work daily to build the Argentine sport we dream of, fair, safe, free from violence and discrimination. That is why an exercise of reflection and action is necessary on these latest events that harm sport and our society in its set".

"We reaffirm our commitment to continue working together with our national federations and sports institutions with the conviction that discriminatory expressions and practices do not represent us," he closed.

Socino also apologized on Instagram.

The words of the Sports Secretariat were joined by those of the Delegation of Argentine Israeli Associations (DAIA), the National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism (INADI) and the

, who had already done public his repudiation.

Alejandro Amor

, Defender of the People of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires confirmed on social networks that the entity will automatically carry out together with INADI "the respective complaints and will offer courses and programs to the UAR to deconstruct this inconceivable and unacceptable position in our democratic and heterogeneous society ".