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Argentina has been shaken before the final test of the Three Nations against the Wallabies after Pablo Matera was removed from his duties as captain.
Matera, as well as two other senior players, Lock Guido Petti and hooker Santiago Socino, appear to be missing the Tri-Nations final on Saturday because of racist and xenophobic comments made on Twitter in 2011 and 2013.
‘The Argentine Rugby Union strongly repudiates the discriminatory and xenophobic comments posted by members of the Los Pumas team on social media and, meeting urgently, the board of directors resolves: First, revoke the captaincy of Pablo Matera and ask the staff to propose a new captain to the board of directors, ‘read a statement translated directly.
Second, suspend Pablo Matera, Guido Petti and Santiago Socino from the national team until their disciplinary situation is defined.
Matera deleted the tweets and suspended her Twitter account, but posted an apology on her Instagram account.
“ I had a harder time. I am very embarrassed. Apologies to all those who were offended by the atrocities that I wrote, ‘Matera said.
All of this came just three weeks after Matera led Argentina to a historic first test win over the All Blacks in Sydney. The victory was very against all odds, as Argentina had previously played a test match in the group stage of the 2019 World Cup and had been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Pumas then held the tournament’s hosts, Australia, in a draw at Newcastle.
Matera had earned the admiration and respect of fans and players with his comments during and after the victory over the All Blacks, while a video of him handing his jersey to a tearful young Pumas fan went viral.
Photo: Mark Kolbe / Getty Images
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