Iordaschescu, the Romanian referee, oversaw Belgium’s defeat of Spain, which resulted in Romania qualifying for the World Cup Olivier Matthys/APWorld Rugby has announced an emergency inquiry headed by a QC into the controversial Spain v Belgium match overseen by a Romanian referee that resulted in Romania qualifying for the Rugby World Cup. The governing body had recommended that the match should be replayed due to the “non-neutral” referee – Spain’s surprise defeat meant that Romania qualified in their place. New allegations that teams, believed to include Romania and Belgium, fielded ineligible players in qualifiers could now result in them being kicked out of the competition altogether or having points deducted. Rugby Europe had rejected pleas from Spain before the match to change the referee, Vlad Iordaschescu. That decision drew fierce criticism from the Spanish, especially as Rugby Europe’s president Octavian Morariu is also Romanian.

Source: The Times April 05, 2018 16:09 UTC