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Center of controversy: France lock Bastien Chaluroy attends a reception for the team in Rouil-Malmaison near Paris at the weekend (Anne-Christine Poujoulet)
France’s Rugby World Cup preparations were overshadowed on Sunday after calls were made to drop lock forward Bastien Chalureau from the squad after being found guilty of a racially motivated attack.
Chalureau was initially left out of coach Fabian Galthy’s 33-man squad for the World Cup, but was called up on Friday to replace injured Montpellier club teammate Paul Willemse.
However, this decision has sparked controversy since 2020 when Chaluro was given a six-month suspended prison sentence by a court in Toulouse for assaulting two former players.
He was found guilty of “acts of violence in the circumstance that these were committed because of the race or ethnicity of the victim”.
Chaluro, who was playing for Toulouse at the time, has always denied any racial element in the attack.
The 31-year-old, who has been banned six times, has appealed against the conviction.
Yannick Larguet, one of the victims of the attack, told the regional daily La Depeche du Midi that Chalureau shouted “racist insults” before “he punched me in the jaw with all his might”.
Asked on Sunday evening whether the controversy was affecting the team’s preparations for the World Cup, French captain Antoine Dupont said Chaluroy “always had an exemplary attitude on and off the field”.
Galthey insisted that “racism has no place in the team” but when asked if his team was affected by the growing controversy, he told reporters “the World Cup is not for the weak”.
“Bastian told us about the matter,” he said, adding that Chalureau denied any racist remarks.
Some politicians have demanded his removal from the team.
Thomas Portes of the left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI) said that his party would “approach the sports minister to intervene and ask the French team not to select him”.
However, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said the appeals process must be respected.
“Let us not set ourselves up as prosecutors in place of justice,” he told BFM TV on Sunday.
French Sports Minister Émilie Audia-Casteira said that “until the final decision of the court, everyone should let justice take its course, respecting the presumption of innocence”.
“The minister was able to speak with Florian Grill, the president of the French Rugby Federation, and Raphael Ibanez, the general manager of the French team, who confirmed to him that there had been talks on the subject between Bastien Chaluroy and the staff of the France squad,” sent to AFP A statement from the ministry said.
“The player maintains his version of the facts and still formally denies making racist remarks, which is why he proceeded to this appeal.”
The spokesman said Audia-Castera “would like to reaffirm that being selected for the France team means representing the republican values of equality and fraternity, therefore behaving accordingly and in particular combating all forms of violence and discrimination”. Is.”
France will open the World Cup against three-time champions New Zealand in Paris on Friday.
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