Two Fiji rugby players have been arrested for ignoring the Pacific nation’s coronavirus self-isolation rules, with local authorities saying their “irresponsible behaviour” would be reported to rugby’s world governing body.
The two men have not been publically identified but the Fiji Rugby Union confirmed they were professionals and media reported them variously to be sevens players and internationals.
Fiji are the Olympic sevens champions and were third in the current world series before it was put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama accused the players of putting “the whole of Fiji at risk”.
9 Times Rugby Players Were Arrested
From time to time, some rugby players have a tendency to play with fire when it comes to life off the pitch.
Whether it’s a boozy night out in town or something a lot worse, some stars don’t do themselves any favours when it comes to abiding by the law.
Here’s a look at nine of the most notable occasions when rugby players broke the law…
1. Danny Cipriani
Cipriani was arrested for drink-driving after the car he was driving was involved in a collision with a taxi at 05:15 on 1 June 2015. He was convicted after a five-day trial for drink-driving before Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 24 June 2016. He was ordered to pay a total of £7,620 in fines and costs and banned from driving for 18 months.
Three years later in August 2018, during a pre-season tour in Jersey, Cipriani was arrested after an incident at a nightclub in St Helier. He was charged with common assault, larceny, assault on police, resisting arrest and being disorderly on licensed premises later that day.
2. Steven Pokere
From 1981 to 1985, he played 39 matches for the All Blacks. But in 2005, Pokere was sentenced to 2½ years in jail for conspiracy to defraud investors of $NZ4million, relating to a company that he ran with three others, all Mormons, that targeted fellow church members, many of whom were friends and family of the quartet.
3. Marc Cécillon
On 10 November 2006, Cécillon, a former France captain, was found guilty of murdering his wife and sentenced to 20 years in prison, five more years than the prosecution had sought. The sentence was reduced to 14 years on appeal before he was released on parole in 2011.
Earlier this month a judge in Perpignan, southern France, sentenced Cecillon to 12 months in jail, with six months suspended, after a night of violence in August at a vineyard where he was helping with the grape harvest, according to the local L’Independant news site.