In a press release sent to the Daily Telegraph and the Sydney Morning Herald, transcribed by l’Equipe, Rocky Elsom, the former president of the Racing Club Narbonnais, who lives in Ireland, denies any wrongdoing and even claims not to have been informed of the hearing on Friday October 11, which would explain his absence in court.
Friday, the Independent revealed that Rocky Elsom, president of the Racing Club Narbonnais from 2015 to 2016, had been found guilty by the Narbonne court of forgery, use of forgery and misuse of company assets. Against him, the court handed down a sentence of 5 years in prison and issued an international arrest warrant, with the court accusing him in particular of having embezzled 700,000 euros.
If an international arrest warrant is transmitted to the Irish authorities, they are obliged to execute it
“I would like to clarify that I was not informed of this hearing and was not given the opportunity to defend myself against the allegations, notably written by Rocky Elsom. In the interest of a fair and equitable procedure, I ask Mr. Tabet (the civil party’s lawyer) to send me a complete list of documents and files he used to obtain the five-year prison sentence imposed on me (…) I would like the club’s lawyer to explain to me officially if I am accused of embezzlement, fraud, embezzlement and falsification for my personal benefit (…) Preventing me from defending myself is a clear perversion of justice (…). I have been contacted via my email address and telephone number, but it appears that the legal process has been accelerated following the recent publication of an article in the Sunday Times. This article indicated my place of residence, my profession and upcoming scheduled meetings (…) I was not questioned in this case and the long procedure seems to have deliberately prevented me from testifying (…) If an international arrest warrant is forwarded to the Irish authorities, they are obliged to execute it, which would mean that I will be arrested. Then I would be detained until they set up another hearing – it wouldn’t be surprising if they delayed that hearing for a while. However, I must focus on what I am doing to restore my honor.”
On October 6, the Sunday Times explained that Rocky Elsom was coach of the Catholic University School, a high school in Dublin.
In this press release, Elsom specifies that “Under his (my) leadership, the club made solid profits, achieved good sporting results, and remained in Pro D2 until 2016 and beyond. It appears that I have been targeted as a scapegoat for the future mismanagement of the famous Rugby club”.
Rugby
