Spanish rugby has thrown away a historic opportunity to grow and will not play the World Cup in France in 2023. The improper alignment of the player of South African origin, Gavin Van den Berg, for two games that the Spanish team won by more than 40 points has caused that World Rugby has decided this Thursday to cancel those two victories and, therefore, Spain is out of the championship.
The regulations are merciless and the decision of the international federation snatches from Spain what it seemed to achieve last month: its first qualification for a World Cup after 24 years of absence.
The decision means qualification for Romania, plus a place in the play-offs for Portugal.
Spain had achieved a direct place in the World Cup that will be played next year in France by being the second best team in the Six Nations B, the second European tournament, in the calculation of the last two years.
This process culminated in two worthy victories in Madrid against Romania and Portugal.
But the Romanians detected the anomaly that has served them to take over the square.
Van den Berg made his debut with Burgos on September 15, 2018. To be eligible, the regulations require that 36 months pass from that moment without leaving the country for more than 60 days.
The
pilier
would sign for Alcobendas in the season that led to the pandemic.
In those months, the South African returned to his country due to his father's illness and the conclusion is that he exceeded that allowed period or that there is no valid proof that he returned on time.
The document in question is a photocopy of his passport in which he proves that his re-entry into the country occurred without violating the stipulated term.
According to federal sources, this document does not appear certified and the argument is that the player lost his passport.
The player Gavin Van den Berg, during a match with his club, Alcobendas, in 2020. Oscar J. Barroso (Europa Press via Getty Images)
World Rugby has restricted the eligibility criteria for foreign players to protect the future of training countries such as the Polynesian islands, which cannot compete in resources with the major French or English leagues where their players play.
The lineups of the great European countries are full of foreigners, both from the great powers – New Zealanders or South Africans who are not among the elite of their country – as well as from more modest countries such as Fiji or Samoa, a process promoted by globalization itself.
Thus, from January 1, 2022, the requirement was raised to a residence string of 60 months or 10 years accumulated in the country of destination.
Either by taking advantage of the previous, more lax regulations, or because the Federation did not see any problems in the documentation received, Van den Berg was selected on December 12 and made his debut against the Netherlands on the 18th. The Higher Sports Council is in contact with those responsible for the federation to clarify responsibilities.
In essence, this front row striker represented another available cash for Spanish rugby.
The formula in recent years has been to take advantage of foreign talent, both from players who played in Spain and with other national teams, mainly French, who played in their country, but were eligible by descent.
And that the performance of the selection served as an incentive to continue expanding the bases, both in number and quality.
Being present at the World Cup was the holy grail.
The player himself and representatives of the Spanish Rugby Federation defended their case before the independent committee chaired by Christopher Quinlan.
The argument is that there was no intention or fraud in the choice of the player and that the problem comes from the documentation of Alcobendas, the club in which he plays.
"This very harsh sanction occurs as a result of an alleged falsification of the aforementioned player's passport," the federation maintains in a statement, in which it reports that it will continue the procedure initiated against the club, which could be relegated to the Second Division.
The drama is aggravated because Spain has tripped over the same stone twice.
The team also came close to qualifying for the 2019 World Cup, but fell in Brussels in the decisive match, a controversial match refereed by a referee from Romania, precisely the country that took advantage of that defeat to win, in principle, the place.
The matter became mired in cross complaints of improper alignments that ended with Spain, Romania and Belgium disqualified and Russia, fourth classified, in the World Cup.
In the case of Spain, it was fly-half Mathieu Belie and flanker Bastien Fuster who played in 2008 for the French under-20 team and were not eligible to play for another country.
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