Rape charges against a French rugby pair are dismissed by an Argentina court

Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou, two French international rugby players, were cleared of serious rape charges by an Argentina court on Tuesday, marking the end of a troubling chapter for the European nation’s rugby scene.

Following their international debuts, Auradou and Jegou, both 21, have been the subject of an inquiry since July 12 for accused aggravated rape, a charge used for suspected gang rape, in Argentina’s western Mendoza region.

The two athletes consistently claimed that the sex was consensual and denied any misconduct.

“The judge has just ordered the players to be acquitted, arguing that the act was not a crime,” Rafael Cuneo Libarona, the attorney for the French players, told Reuters. “The dismissal is not due to doubt, but because the crime did not exist.”

In Argentina, the two athletes were placed under house arrest for over a month and in preventative custody for a few days. At the beginning of September, they were finally permitted to depart Argentina and went back to France.

Since returning to competition on October 5, Auradou has played eight games for his club, Section Paloise, while Jegou has played four games since returning to action on November 2 with Stade Rochelais.

In October, Florian Grill, the president of the French rugby federation, informed Reuters that they would not be returning to play for the French national team “until the case is dismissed”.