The South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) on Saturday announced that their investigation into alleged racism charges against Springbok and Blue Bulls lock Geo Cronje had revealed that the code of conduct had not been breached.
As a result no further disciplinary action will be taken against Cronje unless further information or evidence would necessitate further investigation.
On Saturday Sarfu said that while certain team protocols had been breached in terms of players swopping rooms without permission there was not conclusive evidence that this activity was based on racism.
Sarfu launched an investigation following a newspaper report on Thursday alleging that Cronje had refused to share a room or bathroom facilities with fellow player, Quinton Davids during the Springbok training camp taking place in Pretoria.
Due to the serious nature of the allegations Sarfu appointed a two-man team to investigate the matter. The investigation included lengthy interviews with the two players concerned and other members of the squad and management.
The investigation established that team management had compiled a rooming list ahead of the training camp and that Cronje and Davids were to share a room. It was determined that Cronje chose to ignore the rooming list and moved in with other players.
”We are satisfied that the investigation achieved what it set out to do,” said Sarfu CEO, Mveleli Ncula. ”Any allegations of racism within our sport must be taken seriously and it is our duty to investigate them.” – Sapa