Rugby: amicable agreement between Gareth Thomas and his ex, who accused him of having transmitted HIV to him

The former captain of the Wales rugby team Gareth Thomas (100 selections) announced on Monday that he had paid more than 75,000 pounds to his ex-companion.

The latter had lodged a complaint against him and accused him of having transmitted HIV to him by hiding his HIV status.

According to the court file made public last August, the plaintiff, Ian Baum, 59, believed that Gareth Thomas, 48, "did not take the necessary precautions" to avoid contamination.

According to the BBC, lawyers for Ian Baum have confirmed that an amicable agreement has been reached.

Former Wales and British and Irish Lions captain Gareth Thomas has settled a legal dispute with a former partner for £75,000 plus costs.

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) January 30, 2023

“I am happy to say that the legal case against me has been settled,” said Gareth Thomas on Twitter.

But this is not an admission of responsibility or guilt.

I maintain my innocence in all baseless allegations.

Paying £75,000 plus (procedure) costs now is nothing compared to the amount I would have had to spend to successfully defend myself in court.

For my own mental health and that of my family, this agreement is extremely positive.

There are no winners in the business of HIV.

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In an interview published in August in the British newspaper The Times, Ian Baum claimed that Gareth Thomas had “hid the fact that he was HIV positive” and had “transmitted it to him”.

He also said he was HIV-negative when he started dating the player in 2013, and that the player was "coercive and overbearing" to keep his HIV status from coming out publicly.

According to court documents, Baum claimed to have discovered his companion's HIV status by inquiring on the internet about pills that the former player, who declared his coming out in 2009, took by presenting them as vitamins while it was actually a treatment for HIV.

Gareth Thomas, who scored 200 points for Wales between 1995 and 2007, was the first rugby player in history to come out as gay in 2009. Since stepping down, he has become a rights campaigner homosexuals.

The former three-quarter revealed he had HIV in 2019.