The Rugby world cup banned these countries and teams

Not all states in the world are allowed to participate in competitions like RWC 2023.

Some of the representatives and teams have been disallowed from the game because of their own political views, as well as scandals, which can negatively affect the rating of the competition.

We decided to recall which countries were banned from the Rugby competition from 1987 to 2023. And for what reasons it happened. Interested? Read on.

Banning the West African team from the game

For several years in a row, West Africa was banned from the tournament. These years were 1987 and 1991. The ban on rugby was announced because of the apartheid policy, which blatantly violated the rules on discrimination against participants and their teams.

Therefore, West African clubs could not participate and compete in the rugby championship for some time.

But after the 1990s this policy was lifted and, as you know, Africa is now the winner of the competition, which took place in 2019. By the way, after the ban was lifted, they also won in 1995.

No players or teams from Spain

Because of the scandal with the passport of the main player of the team, Spain has been ruled out to play in RWC 2019 and RWC 2023. They will not be able to participate in the tournament in France, and, as expected, their place will be taken by Romania.

Spain had some pretty strong players who could have performed well in the battle, but due to rule violations, they can’t take part.

This, of course, upset their rugby fans, but this is the verdict of the association, which should not be questioned. We hope that by the game in 2027 Spain will be able to participate and surprise us.

Russia excluded from the tournament sports

Due to controversial foreign policy, as well as aggression with Ukraine and threats of nuclear war, Russia has been excluded from the competition. They and their players are banned from RWC competitions indefinitely.

The association decided unanimously that it did not want to deal with problems and scandals that could tarnish the reputation of the competition if players from Russia or a team were to participate.

The decision could be renegotiated if Russia stops its aggression or when sanctions are lifted from the country, but from the looks of it, that won’t happen anytime soon. So this year the ban has fallen on the country. Also, they will not have official match broadcasting.

Why does the country’s rugby get excluded?

First of all, it is a question of ratings and rules. In order not to tarnish the reputation, the tournament must adhere to certain rules, otherwise, it will bring losses that the association cannot afford.

Also, countries can be excluded because of scandals, foreign policy, or cheating in the past.