Two months after the alleged events, international players Hugo Auradou (21 years old) and Oscar Jégou (21 years old), charged with rape in Argentina, returned to France on September 4. The two players are still being prosecuted for “gang rape” of a 39-year-old Argentinian woman who spent part of the night of July 6-7 in their hotel room in Mendoza, after a French XV test match. Auradou and Jégou are both hoping for the charges to be dropped in the coming days, and for a dismissal of the case which would put an end to this scandal – at least in legal terms.
During an interview published this Thursday on the Youtube channel of Gauthier Baudin, an independent journalist, Florian Grill, current president of the French Rugby Federation and candidate for re-election, spoke about the case. And he answered this question: Should Auradou and Jégou be sanctioned by the FFR and appear before an independent disciplinary committee?
“No one would want to be in their shoes”
“The issue today is whether or not there is a case to be dismissed. Are they going to be punished further? The reality is that they weren’t the only ones who went out that night. Did they respect the rule? The answer is no. There was a tour captain called Baptiste Serin who said: ‘Around 1:30 or 2 a.m., everyone goes back to the hotel’. There were a number of players, including Auradou, Jegou and Jaminet who decided not to go back to the hotel and decided to go out. They weren’t the only ones. I think they’ve already been punished,” he said.
And he continued: “Frankly, no one would want to be in their shoes. We’ll see if they are convicted or not, I’m not a judge, I’m not a lawyer, it’s not up to me to decide. But adding a sanction in relation to what they’ve experienced would have a completely ridiculous side. (…) The question is, should there be no case to answer or not.” What about international full-back Melvyn Jaminet, suspended for 34 weeks following the publication of a video on social media in which he made racist remarks?
“Melvin Jaminet did not suffer the same thing in Argentina (as Jégou and Auradou, editor’s note). He blatantly made racist remarks in a video that was widely distributed, while wearing the French team’s rooster on his jersey. We contacted the FFR’s disciplinary committee, which is independent. It made a decision. On the other hand, we contacted the prosecutor,” replied Florian Grill.
- RMC Sport
