BUENOS AIRES, Sept 13 (Reuters) – Argentina’s Pumas could
have done without the potential damage to their image in their
debut season in The Rugby Championship of a financial scandal at
the heart of the governing UAR union.
The UAR has revealed a case of fraud perpetrated by two
former employees, an accountant and a purchases manager, for a
reported sum of two million Argentine pesos ($429,100) in
cheques with forged signatures between May 2011 and March 2012.
The Pumas meet Australia on the Gold Coast on Saturday in
their fourth appearance in the southern hemisphere’s elite
tournament after drawing at home to South Africa and losing away
to the Springboks and also world champions New Zealand.
“The Argentine Rugby Union’s board of directors, through
general manager Damian Diaz, has on this date (Wednesday Sept.
12) brought legal charges against two ex employees…for
fraudulent administration,” the UAR said in a statement.
Manuel Galindo, head of the UAR’s high performance centres,
said he did not think the scandal would affect the UAR’s image
with championship organisers Sanzar.
“I am disappointed and angry because this has happened at
the most important moment in Argentine rugby with the Pumas
playing in The Rugby Championship,” Galindo told the state news
agency Telam.
“I’m confident this won’t affect our image because we acted
quickly and seriously,” he was quoted as saying in Thursday’s
sports daily Ole.
Diaz said the fraud has been discovered as the UAR, an
amateur organisation, moved to become more professional to meet
the demands of playing in a top level international tournament.
“All these changes are being made to support the game, the
grass roots and the national team… The UAR is dependable, the
Pumas are dependable,” he said.
($1 = 4.6612 Argentine pesos)
(Reporting by Rex Gowar; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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