Remember with pride Santiago Santos, former Spanish rugby coach, the Complutense National Stadium “packed” when the Lions They qualified in 2018 and 2022 for two World Cups. A dream broken by sanctions for improper alignment. After a long silence, the coach tells EL MUNDO how he experienced, a year and a half ago, the scandal over the fake papers of Gavin van den Berg. And he admits, not without resignation, that he is following the World Cup in France on TV.
Santiago Santos alludes to the fact that the International Federation gave a first approval to the player’s lineup. But that query was made on the dates collected in the falsified photocopy of a passport that the Spanish Federation accepted as valid. It was later discovered that Van den Berg had been outside Spain for more than four months in 2019, well above the two allowed.
Santos slips that he did not feel fully supported by the previous leadership of the Federation and leaves the offices. “My job was for Spain to win,” ends before a coffee. The new board asked him to begin the transition and dismissed him in April. The former coach disagrees with part of his approach. He also regrets that The pressures from their French clubs prevent many selectable players from attending many calls..