Spain U20 Mateo Aragón banned seven matches for racially abusing France fly-half at Junior World Championship

Spain under-20 player Mateo Aragón has been banned for seven matches after an independent disciplinary committee upheld a citing for racist verbal abuse directed at France fly-half Luka Keletaona during the World Rugby Junior World Championship in Kutaisi, Georgia, on 2 July.

The incident took place during the Pool D fixture between Spain and France. The France U20 team management subsequently referred the matter to an independent citing commissioner, who examined match footage, audio recordings, and witness statements from members of both squads.

Keletaona described the moment in comments to reporters following the game. “I was there to get the lads together under the posts,” the fly-half said. “The Spaniards passed us and that’s when the racist remarks were made. Racist comments have no place on a field. It must not go unnoticed.”

The committee determined that Aragón had not proven on the balance of probabilities that the citing should be overturned. In determining the sanction, the panel applied a mid-range entry point of 12 matches. It declined to award full mitigation given the racial nature of the offending as an aggravating factor, arriving at a final ban of seven matches. Aragón’s fixture list is yet to be confirmed.

World Rugby issued a statement condemning the conduct. “There is no place in rugby or society for discrimination, abuse or hate speech, and any complaint of discrimination is taken extremely seriously by World Rugby and its disciplinary personnel,” it read. The governing body also urged the rugby community to remain respectful of all individuals involved, particularly on social media.

Under World Rugby Regulation 17, Aragón has 48 hours from receipt of the written decision to lodge an appeal. A full written decision will be published in due course.