Argentina captain Pablo Matera sacked for ‘xenophobic’ posts on Twitter

Argentina rugby skipper Pablo Matera has been stripped of the captaincy amid an investigation into historic “discriminatory and xenophobic” posts on Twitter.

Argentina captain Pablo Matera has been sacked over "discriminatory" and "xenophobic" tweets.

The flanker and two other players have been stood down from Saturday’s final Tri-Nations Test match aagainst Australia in Sydney.

Matera captained Argentina to their landmark victory over New Zealand last month. It was the South American side’s first ever win over the All Blacks.

The player is alleged to have made the comments on Twitter between 2011 and 2013. They have since resurfaced on social media.

The Argentine Rugby Union has condemned the comments.

“The Argentine Rugby Union strongly repudiates the discriminatory and xenophobic comments published by members of the Los Pumas team on social media,” a statement said.

Disciplinary action against Matera and teammates Guido Petti and Santiago Socino has now begun.

“In the first place, [we] revoke the captaincy of Pablo Matera and request the staff to propose a new captain to the board of directors," the statement read.

“Second, suspend Pablo Matera, Guido Petti and Santiago Socino from the national team until their disciplinary situation is defined. “

“Third, initiate a disciplinary process for the three mentioned players, in charge of the Disciplinary Commission of the Argentine Rugby Union.

“Although the messages were expressed between 2011 and 2013 and do not represent the integrity as people that the three showed during this time in Los Pumas, from the Argentine Rugby Union we condemn any expression of hatred and we consider it unacceptable that those who express them represent our country.”

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