Spain will not go to the 2023 World Cup after failing in their bid to reverse their disqualification over a violation of player eligibility laws.
World Rugby announced on Monday that an independent appeals committee had upheld Spain’s decision to deduct points after they eliminated Gavin van den Berg in two qualifying matches between 2021 and 2022.
Van den Berg, a South African prop, hadn’t had enough residency before coming off the bench against the Netherlands last December and then again against the same opponents in February.
A copy of his passport was found to have been tampered with to make it appear as if he had spent longer in Spain rather than South Africa during his stay.
Those violations deducted Spain 10 points, enough to drop to fourth place under Romania and Portugal in the qualifying table, which is derived from the combined results of the Rugby Europe Championship over two seasons.
World Rugby released a statement outlining that Spain’s appeal was intended to introduce new evidence that had not been heard at the initial hearing. However, it was not sufficiently explained why the evidence was not available at the time.
It was also ruled that “it would not be in the interests of justice” to consider new information, in part because it “addresses allegations against the player and others regarding the alteration of a photocopy of a National Identity Document that was the subject of ongoing investigations”.
World Rugby’s written ruling shows that Van den Berg is still under investigation by the Spanish National Sports Disciplinary Commission and “may be subject to criminal sanctions”.
As things stand, Romania will take their place in Pool B at the 2023 World Cup alongside South Africa, Ireland and Scotland. Portugal, who pushed Italy close over the weekend and eventually lost 38-31, will have one last chance to make it to the tournament via the repechage later this year.