World Rugby set to 'clear' SARU in Mzansi Challenge logomachy

BREAKING: Despite acknowledging that the South African Rugby Union ‘bent the knee’ to political extremists, World Rugby is unlikely to take any action over the Mzanzi Challenge logomachy.

The global body confirmed in a letter to SARU, the Israel Rugby Union, Tel Aviv Heat and The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights that they have completed their review of the complaint submitted by the IRU.

The findings will now be submitted to the World Rugby Council for ratification.

It relates to alleged breaches of World Rugby Regulation 18 and Regulation 19 by SARU when they withdrew an invitation issued to the Heat to participate in the Mzansi Challenge, a domestic competition that operates one level below SA’s premier domestic competition, the Currie Cup.

“World Rugby received a complaint from IRU on March 2, alleging that SARU’s decision was ‘discriminatory’ by reason of national or ethnic origin and therefore ‘Misconduct’ under Regulation 18.4(c) in breach of Regulation 18.2,” World Rugby said in the letter.

“[The] IRU further alleged that SARU had breached Regulation 19.2.2 by, inter alia, failing to investigate the alleged breach properly, failing to take appropriate action and failing to report its decision to World Rugby’s CEO.

“Tel Aviv Heat engaged in separate correspondence with World Rugby in relation to the same issue.”

In its findings, World Rugby said it was “satisfied” with the explanation provided by SARU that the decision to withdraw the invitation to Tel Aviv Heat was based on “concerns about an increased safety and security threat” including the potential threats of violence.

World Rugby made reference to the antisemitic South African BDS Coalition statement which was released on February 3, in which BDS stated that “if this Israeli team comes to play in South Africa SARU will have blood on its hands”.

However, World Rugby said it felt the evidence is insufficient to demonstrate that there is a case to answer regarding a breach of the World Rugby Bye-Laws and/or Regulations.

“For the reasons set out above, no charges will be issued against SA Rugby and the matter is considered closed by World Rugby,” the letter concluded.

In response, Bafana Modise, the South African Friends of Israel spokesperson, said the World Rugby letter confirms that SARU “bent the knee to political extremists” threatening violence.

SAFI also makes it clear it is not happy with the World Rugby decision and has submitted two Promotion of Access to Information Act applications to SARU, to try and uncover which BDS representatives are responsible for this debacle.

“Political extremists seeking relevance in South Africa must be held to account for threatening violence at South African sporting fixtures, in a manner that curtails the participation of international teams in local events,” Modise said in a statement.

“In this revelatory letter, it is made clear that SARU bent the knee to appease political extremists in South Africa, who threatened to harm and incite violence should an Israeli team participate in the sport.”

“A threat to the safety of any team or players only undermines our country’s future ability to host international teams and sporting events.

“This is a devastating blow to the professional nature of sport in South Africa.

“The antisemitic BDS coalition has intimidated SARU, under threat of violence, to comply with their own political ideologies regarding political affairs in Israel, which are scarcely shared with the majority of the South African population.

“While BDS argue that Israel is an apartheid state, nothing could be further from the truth.

“In fact, Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East, where the rights of all citizens – regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, race or religion – are equally protected by the law,” Modise added in his statement.

Offer Fabian, President of Rugby Israel, said they will continue to promote the game without “prejudice or discrimination”.

“Rugby is for everyone regardless of gender, inclination or religious belief and Rugby Israel’s door remains open to Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druz all of whom play shoulder-to-shoulder in our local leagues and national teams,” Fabian said.

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