RugbyRebels

Posted: **Tue Mar 27, 2018 7:57 am**

I know Romanian Union did a check on Faka’osilea’s status with the Tongan Union, indeed I think that's standard and it's possible the Tongan Union overlooked the part of the form they submit which details the highest level a player has appeared at, but the player himself would also have had to make a declaration, and given I can remember playing club/school/university 1st XV levels as reasonable levels of attainment I'm finding it hard to consider I'd have forgotten I played at international level. Whether Faka’osilea has since qualified for Rom using the Olympic route I don't know, but based on snippets he might have done, certainly the FRR seem very calm about the whole thing, and this from the people who just slated Clive Woodward as a pensioner (frankly it seemed a little lacking for all the things you could take a pop at Clive about)

Posted: **Tue Mar 27, 2018 9:03 am**

I'm actually getting the opposite impression from the snippets I've been reading, apart from the fact the FRR appears to be looking calm at this stage. Probably they just want to keep it as quiet as possible. Screaming angry denials wouldn't exactly work in their favor at this point. There doesn't appear to be any record of Faka’osilea playing in those Olympic qualifiers either, which is curious indeed, given it would have been so simple. My guess is he has deliberately misled Romanian officials, and neither they nor the Tongan Rugby Union had bothered to do a thorough job of checking all the details. I don't know, of course, but that seems the most likely explanation. If that does prove to be the case, the Oaks will likely be turfed out of the World Cup - and that would be sensational news!

Posted: **Tue Mar 27, 2018 9:09 am**

I'm not relying on impressions to say they checked his status with the Tongan Union, partly as the process (as set out by the IRB) is fairly well set out for a player moving unions, and too because I've been so advised by someone in the Romanian Union. Though that doesn't mean there haven't been errors in process and/or communication, and as previous there's a check done between unions but there's also a player declaration to be taken into account.

Also you really don't want to rely on your impressions as they're less use than a chocolate fireguard

Posted: **Tue Mar 27, 2018 9:57 am**

And without too much surprise it now seems the Spanish have a similar transgression on player eligibility, which could mean as things stand Germany and Russia advance to the WC, though who knows if they've ever cheated. Perish the thought of course that a nation which endorses doping on an institutional level would consider cheating.

Posted: **Tue Mar 27, 2018 12:54 pm**

Perish the thought of course that a nation which endorses doping on an institutional level would consider cheating.

I think we should leave America out of this . . .

Posted: **Tue Mar 27, 2018 1:03 pm**

Mathieu Belie seems to be the player in question. Could be a classic case of glass houses then, since it's well-known the Spanish have a number of supposedly naturalized Frenchies in the ranks. It's all getting a little complicated and we'll just have to wait for the officials to sort it out. Who knows, we could end up with Russia at the World Cup and Germany heading to Samoa at this rate, but I'll frankly be very surprised if anyone is actually kicked out of the tournament for it. Tahiti doesn't really matter to World Rugby. The top flight ENC unions do.

Posted: **Tue Mar 27, 2018 9:29 pm**

Romania's own DigiSport reports:

Romanian Rugby Federation expects clarification on the eligibility of the player's home Tongan Sione Fakaosilea (30) for the national team after the international press reported that the player naturalized recently had played for the rugby sevens State Tonga in 2013, which is against the regulations. Fakaosilea was used by "oaks" in 13 matches, so now it all depends on the international forum. If the information is true, then our national might even end up losing the green party win on the field where it used the rugbyst . In addition, he would miss World Cup qualification in 2019, our national team would also be relegated from Rugby Europe International Championship . That is, it would end up playing in the 3rd division of continental competition. And the Romanian Rugby Federation could be fined about 130,000 euros, a very large sum for this sport, which would be a disaster both athletic and financial.

FRR has sent an address to Rugby Europe and World Rugby, the continental or world oval ball sports world, to clarify this situation. Fakaosilea made his debut for Romania in the Rugby Europe Championship against Russia in Sochi in March 2017. Since then he has played 13 times for "oaks". The 2018 edition of the Rugby Europe Championship also featured as a World Cup qualification tournament in 2019 in Japan. Georgia had the ticket for the 2019 World Cup tournament and Romania qualified after ranking second in front of Spain and Russia following the surprising and contested victory over Belgium in front of Spain (18-10) , match arbitrated by a Romanian, Vlad Iordăchescu.

Spain's third-place player will meet Portugal in a first qualifying round for CM 2019 (April 4th), with the winner facing Samoa in doubles for a seat in the World Cup next year.

Siona Fakaosilea plays center stage at Baia Mare Science since 2014, being naturalized after playing three years in the Romanian championship. Fakaosilea played for Tonga in the Pacific Cup Rugby 2013, having seven matches played in the Seven World Series, at the 2012-2013 Gold Coast (Australia) tournament, considered an official tournament.

If World Rugby decides that Fakaosilea is not eligible for Romania's national team, the "oaks" can be excluded from the World Cup preliminaries 2019.

In other news, Rugby Europe officials will recall on Thursday the controversial arbitration of the Belgium-Spain (18-10) match in the World Cup preliminaries 2019, which resulted in Romania qualifying for the next year's tournament in to the detriment of the Spaniards, announced the mainland court of oval balloon sport.

At the end of a meeting held on Monday and following Friday's arbitration panel, "Board members unanimously asked for additional elements (especially those forwarded to World Rugby just before the meeting) to take "A new meeting is scheduled for Thursday afternoon , " said Rugby Europe, whose president is Romanian Octavian Morariu.

https://www.digisport.ro/rugby/romania- ... ari-417166

Posted: **Tue Mar 27, 2018 9:35 pm**

So, still no suggestion whatsoever that Fakaosilea was 'naturalized' through the Olympic 7s program, which is the only way he could possibly be eligible for Romania now. Seems my earlier impressions may well have been on target.

You know, the Tahiti camp should be watching these developments very closely. If World Rugby lets anyone off the hook here, hypothetically-speaking, the French Polynesians will have every right to feel aggrieved . . .

Posted: **Wed Mar 28, 2018 12:56 am**

WR might regret setting that precedent with Tahiti.

Posted: **Wed Mar 28, 2018 7:25 am**

Lizard wrote:WR might regret setting that precedent with Tahiti.

Exactly what I was thinking.

Meanwhile, it appears the Russians have filed an official complaint over Romania, so the impetus is coming from there, not Spain. Obviously they're seeking a way back into the reckoning. Spain is focused on the Belgian player, but more so on the refereeing. Apparently the official in question was stood down for French comp at the weekend as one of the teams he would've been controlling included 2 of the Spanish players.

Posted: **Wed Mar 28, 2018 9:16 am**

This is becoming a very big story. The NY Times & Britain's Independent give it a full spread now:

The Russian rugby federation (FRR) is seeking clarification about Romanian international Sione Faka’osilea's eligibility to play in the European championship, the FRR said in a statement.

https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/03 ... mania.html

Rugby World Cup 2019 picture takes another turn as Romania and Belgium accused of fielding ineligible players
Russia and Germany have asked for clarification on players used by Romania and Belgium, with potential disqualification from the Rugby Europe Championship on the cards

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rug ... 76381.html

Posted: **Wed Mar 28, 2018 9:34 am**

And now there are reports Russia might have some problems on player eligibility, and of course we know they've a problem with state sponsored doping and with nerve agent attacks.

Posted: **Wed Mar 28, 2018 9:52 am**

Digby wrote:And now there are reports Russia might have some problems on player eligibility, and of course we know they've a problem with state sponsored doping and with nerve agent attacks.

How about America and England? & we know about their problem with carrying out genocidal wars all over the world and killing millions of people to steal their resources.

Posted: **Thu Mar 29, 2018 4:03 pm**

rowan wrote:To be honest, this entire fiasco might just be part of European rugby's growing pains as top flight competition becomes more professional and competitive. Brazil's progress in South America notwithstanding, there is no other region which is developing as quickly and Europe now has by far the most credible World Cup qualifying group of all the confederations. Practically any one of the first division teams could conceivably get through (including Germany when they're not torn apart by a sponsorship row). & the fall-out from Spain's shock defeat in Belgium has certainly put the sport on the back pages of continental European newspapers. Last time I looked there were actually two rugby stories on the back page of El Pais - normally reserved exclusively for football and basketball. So it can't be a bad thing when the sport has attained the status that losses are felt so deeply and have such an impact beyond the rugby community.

I'd largely agree with that. There is still a gulf between the top tier and those n the second, but more international teams are closing the gap.

Posted: **Thu Mar 29, 2018 4:08 pm**

rowan wrote:Mathieu Belie seems to be the player in question. Could be a classic case of glass houses then, since it's well-known the Spanish have a number of supposedly naturalized Frenchies in the ranks. It's all getting a little complicated and we'll just have to wait for the officials to sort it out. Who knows, we could end up with Russia at the World Cup and Germany heading to Samoa at this rate, but I'll frankly be very surprised if anyone is actually kicked out of the tournament for it. Tahiti doesn't really matter to World Rugby. The top flight ENC unions do.

My guess, is that the player eligibility issue will end up in a widespread blocking, but won't change the results. One team might get slapped, but I can't see them taking drastic action when the issue is widespread.

I rather suspect that if World Rugby decide the Belgian-Spanish game was fairly refereed, then the whole thing will end up up a fairly lumpy carpet.

Posted: **Thu Mar 29, 2018 4:11 pm**

Lizard wrote:WR might regret setting that precedent with Tahiti.

So much simpler if we all just played for the country of birth. Even bigger nations, Wales and Grannygate for example, can get this wrong. I do have some sympathies with smaller nations who are probably making do on a shoestring budget.

Although how tournament organisers aren't picking this up is beyond me.

Posted: **Thu Mar 29, 2018 4:27 pm**

Yes, it's certainly good to see the Europeans developing so quickly, and my understanding is that Spain, in spite of having quite a few Frenchies in the ranks, have done their homework and ensured they were all eligible. It was a shame about Tahiti, who would have been facing a mostly-Auckland based team for sure, but they have a tiny rugby program in French Polynesia and were never going to beat the Cooks with a locally-selected team. Nice try tho

Posted: **Sat Mar 31, 2018 10:06 pm**

Forgot to say the next update is due from the next meeting in this little saga, that's scheduled for Monday

Posted: **Sat Mar 31, 2018 10:53 pm**

It'll be a furious beating with a feather duster, for sure. Turfing the Romanians out now would just be too sensational. I'm not sure how they will be able to justify Sione Faka’osilea's selection as it appears he didn't make use of the Olympic loop-hole, but if they can award France the World Cup twice in the space of 5 tournaments they can certainly contrive some means of appearing to severely punish the FRR without actually disqualifying them. & the same will likely apply to the Belgium team. How they then deal with the inevitable fury from the Spanish (and possibly Tahitians) is another matter. It's certainly going to be interesting, but I don't anticipate a quick resolution.

Posted: **Sun Apr 01, 2018 7:23 am**

Interesting overview:

Further repercussions have arisen from the Rugby Europe RWC Qualifiers controversy. The saga that erupted on March 18 has not faded away. Instead new information continues to surface.

Before new information was reported today, in the Spanish media, there was already a lot to the story. The following is a Time Line detailing the events prior to today.

On February 18 Spain defeat Romania 22-10 in a RWC 2019 Qualifier.
On February 19 Spain request a change of referees vs Belgium so as not to have Romanian officials, to ensure impartiality. Rugby Europe Referees Commissioner, Patrick Roben denies the request.
On March 11 Spain defeat Germany 84-10 in a RWC 2019 Qualifier. With it they need to beat Belgium to officially qualify.
On March 16 World Rugby Marius van der Westhuizen is replaced as an assistant referee for Ireland vs England. He had refereed an England training session to which World Rugby acted ‘to avoid any additional unfair and unnecessary conjecture’.
On March 18 Belgium defeat Spain 18-10 in a RWC 2019 Qualifier. Match was officiated by Vlad Iordachescu with fellow Romanians Radu Petrescu and Alexandru Ionescu as the assistant referees. Iordachescu was escorted from field amongst verbal and physical abuse from Spanish players angrily questioning his performance and neutrality.
On March 18 Romania qualify for RWC 2019 as Europe 1
On March 18 World Rugby states that Rugby Europe, not World Rugby appointed the referees.
On March 19 World Rugby announces it is to investigate context of events from Belgium vs Spain.
On March 20 Spain file an official complaint to World Rugby against Iordachescu asking for the match to be replayed.
On March 23 World Rugby overturn result of Tahiti vs Cook Islands RWC qualifier after Tahiti is found to have fielded ineligible players, breaching Regulation 8. Cook Islands advance in RWC qualifying, Tahiti disqualified.
On March 24 former Romania Head Coach Lynn Howells says Romanians should not have officiated Belgium vs Spain.
On March 25 Germany Coach Pablo Lemoine states that Belgium had fielded an ineligible player against Germany on March 03, and names the player.
On March 26 Bryan Ray details that former Tongan 7’s player Sione Faka’osilea was never eligible for Romania despite featuring heavily in the RWC Qualifiers.
On March 27 it emerges that Belgium had played in RWC qualifiers with an additional ineligible player.
On March 27 it emerges that the eligibility of a Spanish player has also been missed by Rugby Europe.
On March 28 the eligibility of a second Spanish player is questioned.
On March 28 Germany notes that serious issues surround the eligibility of players who played in 2018 RWC qualifiers for Belgium, Romania and Spain.
On March 28 Rugby Europe postpone their decision over Belgium vs Spain for a second time.
On March 29 Fermín de la Calle reports that Match Commissioner Michel Arpaillange was critical of the refereeing performance of Vlad Iordachescu, noting “two or three actions” which had a notable impact on the game and there having been a “continual bias” from Iordachescu.
On March 29 Russia filed an official complaint to Rugby Europe and World Rugby about Sione Faka’osilea, demanding the cancellation of results of the Romania vs Russia RWC qualifiers.
Further repercussions unfolded today. Writing for Spanish publication El Confidencial Fermín de la Calle noted a number of important matters.

de la Calle notes that Rugby Europe has passed the decision making over both the replaying of Belgium vs Spain and Romania’s player eligibility to World Rugby.

He also writes that World Rugby High Performance Match Officials’ Manager, Alain Roland has reviewed Vlad Iordachescu’s refereeing performance from Belgium vs Spain and has concluded that: “Iordachescu will not return to officiating matches at that level”.

In regards to Sione Faka’osilea, de la Calle notes Russia’s complaint and says it will disqualify Romania from competing at RWC 2019. With it, he goes on to say that, Spain would take Romania’s place while Russia would enter repechage (if they beat Portugal).

Finally, de la Calle writes that Spain are facing notable sanctioning from World Rugby. Guillaume Rouet and Pierre Barthere, and there could be more, are to be cited for referee abuse. There is a possible ban for a number of Spanish players and some could be ruled out of competing at RWC by World Rugby.

Not addressed, however, is Spain’s selection of Mathieu Bélie or Bastien Fuster. Both players have come under question having previously represented France u20 in matches that should be considered binding according to World Rugby Regulation 8.

http://www.americarugbynews.com/2018/03 ... ualifiers/

Posted: **Sun Apr 01, 2018 7:45 am**

So Fermin de la Calle is a Spanish sports writer, nothing more, and his claims appear to be mostly unsubstantiated. Very big of him to suggest some Spanish players may be banned for the verbal assault on Lordachescu. But while he appears certain Romania will be banned and Lordachescu himself will be demoted, he inevitably disregards the possibility of ineligible Spanish players. It's really not going to give me any joy to see Spain enter RWC IX through the back door like this, should that scenario eventuate, simply because they paid a little more attention to the eligibility laws, and given all the acrimony and hypocrisy involved in this saga.

Posted: **Tue Apr 03, 2018 10:14 pm**

There are further reports coming out. Suffice to say the reports if they prove true aren't other than political gerrymandering.

Posted: **Thu Apr 05, 2018 9:15 pm**

Latest, though not a lot of substance to it:

World Rugby has assembled an independent dispute committee to examine issues arising from the controversial match between Spain and Belgium.

Spain needed to win their final Rugby Europe Championship game against Belgium to qualify directly for the 2019 World Cup. But they lost 18-10, a result which saw Romania qualify instead as they finished one log point ahead of Spain.

The game was marred by a poor performance by Romanian referee Vlad Lordachescu, who awarded 18 penalties against Spain and just eight against Belgium. The assistant referees were also Romanian.

A few days after the match, the Spanish rugby federation appealed to World Rugby for a replay. But new information regarding the selection of ineligible players through the Rugby Europe Championship has since come to light.

On Thursday, World Rugby released a statement to confirm that while it believes a replay would be in the best interests of the game, the new information concerning potential breaches of its regulations has to be investigated on an emergency basis first.

‘World Rugby was deeply concerned about the circumstances surrounding the Belgium versus Spain Rugby Europe Championship match, a match that was decisive in the context of Rugby World Cup 2019 qualification. Specifically, concerns related to the process and perception of Rugby Europe’s appointment of a match official team that was not neutral in the context of qualification and failing to act on Spain’s concerns in respect of the appointment.

‘While recognising Rugby Europe’s responsibility to review events in their own competition, given the context and significance of the fixture, World Rugby acted immediately to request information relating to the above issues from Rugby Europe and participating unions. Having considered all available information, the World Rugby executive committee and Rugby World Cup board felt that a replay would be in the best interests of the game.

'Since expressing that view, new information relating to player eligibility in the Rugby Europe Championship has been presented to World Rugby by the participating unions. Given this information concerns potential breaches of World Rugby regulations, and given the complexity and interconnectivity of the issues, a full and independent review is warranted. This is in the best interest of the sport, teams and fans and is fully supported by Rugby Europe.

'Independent judicial panel chairman Christopher Quinlan QC has been asked to form and convene the disputes committee, as permitted under the Rugby World Cup 2019 qualification terms of participation, on an emergency basis in order to achieve certainty as soon as possible.

'A separate independent judicial panel has been appointed by Rugby Europe to consider the conduct of players after the final whistle of the Belgium versus Spain match.'

http://www.sarugbymag.co.za/blog/detail ... -qualifier

Posted: **Fri Apr 06, 2018 11:45 am**

Wow

Now we have substance . . .

In an unprecedented move World Rugby have agreed that the controversial World Cup qualifying match between Belgium and Spain that took place on March 18 in Brussels should be replayed. The governing body issued a statement on Thursday afternoon implying that Spain’s request for a change in match officials prior to the match was warranted.

“World Rugby was deeply concerned about the circumstances surrounding the Belgium versus Spain Rugby Europe Championship match, a match that was decisive in the context of Rugby World Cup 2019 qualification. Specifically, concerns related to the process and perception of Rugby Europe’s appointment of a match official team that was not neutral in the context of qualification and failing to act on Spain’s concerns in respect of the appointment.

“While recognising Rugby Europe’s responsibility to review events in their own competition, given the context and significance of the fixture World Rugby acted immediately to request information relating to the above issues from Rugby Europe and participating unions. Having considered all available information, the World Rugby Executive Committee and Rugby World Cup Board felt that a replay would be in the best interests of the game.”

That decision, however, has been put on the shelf pending an independent review of multiple allegations of ineligible player participation. Chief among the concerns is the repeated selection of Sione Faka’osilea by Romania having previously played sevens for Tonga. Players from Belgium, Spain, and Russia have now been cited, the latter only in recent days. Anton Rudoi played for Kazakhstan before being capped by Russia but is certain to be cleared having gone through the Olympic Sevens loophole.

Barring the discovery of further exceptional circumstances it seems most likely that the findings of the eligibility inquiry will supersede those of the match replay. World Rugby have not given a time frame for completion of the independent review.

“Since expressing that view, new information relating to player eligibility in the Rugby Europe Championship has been presented to World Rugby by the participating unions. Given this information concerns potential breach of World Rugby regulations and given the complexity and interconnectivity of the issues, a full and independent review is warranted. This is in the best interests of the sport, teams and fans and is fully supported by Rugby Europe.

“World Rugby’s independent Judicial Panel Chairman Christopher Quinlan QC has been asked to form and convene the disputes committee, as permitted under the Rugby World Cup 2019 qualification terms of participation, on an emergency basis in order to achieve certainty as soon as possible.”

The independent review committee is also set to assess the administrative process of the Rugby Europe Championship as a whole while the charges of improper player conduct following the conclusion of the match in Brussels will be handed to a separate independent judicial committee. A group of Spanish players approached the match officials following the match with at least one appearing to make physical contact with the referee.

In the meantime the European play-off to determine who advances to play Samoa in the next stage of World Cup qualifying has been delayed indefinitely until the reviews have been completed. The Rugby Europe relegation match between Germany and Portugal could also be affected pending the findings from the eligibility inquiry.

Posted: **Fri Apr 06, 2018 12:15 pm**

If the replay goes ahead, 2 possible scenarios could embarrass World Rugby further:

1 Belgium doesn't take it seriously, trots out a B team, and infuriates Romania.

2 Belgium goes all out to prove its win was fully-merited, and does it again. Certainly could happen. Their pack is underrated and dominated possession against Los Leones.

I think World Rugby may come to rue this decision. Anything barring a comfortable win for Spain over a full-strength Belgium is only going to exacerbate the situation.

RugbyRebels

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