12/20/2020 2:03 PM
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 12/20/2020 2:03 PM
The 2020 Tres Nations, which was destined to be a rugby celebration in a year complicated by the pandemic, ended up being a nightmare for Pablo Matera.
The player emerged in Alumni was one of the three Pumas who starred in the scandal due to the old racist and discriminatory tweets that came to light during that tournament.
Those messages, which he had written on the networks almost 10 years ago, cost him public rejection, in addition to a suspension of the selected team and the loss of the captaincy, sanctions that the UAR revoked hours after imposing them.
Today, while waiting for the result of the internal investigation of the Argentine Union and already back at the Stade Français, he spoke about the controversy in an interview with
Canal +
, from France.
"It was a misuse of social media with a group of friends from school. A bad joke. I just want to say sorry," the wing commented in a short announcement of the talk, which will be broadcast in its full version tonight.
"I imagine that there were a lot of people who felt hurt and who felt offended," reflected the Argentine.
The scandal began after the match for the fifth match of the Three Nations, which Los Pumas lost by a landslide to New Zealand.
In the midst of criticism for the lukewarm tribute that the squad had paid to Diego Maradona in the run-up to that match against the All Blacks, some Twitter users made the tweets that Matera,
Guido Petti
and
Santiago Socino
had written
between 2011 and 2011
viral.
2013. All three apologized hours later.
Pablo Matera and his crying with Nicolás Sánchez, after the last match of Los Pumas against Austrtalia in the Tres Naciones.
Photo Press UAR
"I had a tougher time. I am very ashamed. Apologies to all those who were offended by the atrocities I wrote. At that time I did not imagine who I was going to become. Today I have to take responsibility for what I said 9 years ago. Sorry too to my team and my family for the moment they are going through my actions and thanks to the people who love me for their support, "Matera wrote on her Instagram account.
That of Twitter had closed it shortly after the controversy broke out.
Criticism still rained down from all sides and the Stade Français, the club the Argentine joined last year, issued a statement in which it repudiated the content of the tweets, but supported the player, who was still summoned to declare upon his return to France.
"After the revelations of some media, the publications made in 2012 by our player Matera on the social network Twitter, Stade Français wishes to mark its total opposition with these unacceptable comments and observations," said the club.
"We want to remember that, since his arrival at the club in December 2019, our player has always been irreproachable in his attitude towards his teammates and opponents, both on and off the pitch."
Although the UAR lifted the suspension of the three players, Mario Ledesma did not send him to the field for the last match of the Three Nations, in which the Argentines finished second, with a single defeat, two draws against Australia and a historic victory against the All Blacks.
Matera then returned to France, where he rejoined his club, while awaiting the final decision of the UAR Disciplinary Committee.