The Tunisian Rugby Union has accused Zimbabwe’s team of “unethical actions” after the players on Monday slept on the street outside of their hotel in Beja to protest the “poor condition” of their accommodation.
Zimbabwe are in Tunisia for a Gold Cup clash on Saturday that serves as a qualifier for next year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan, but the team made global headlines after images on social media of their players sleeping on the curb went viral.
The union said that the Zimbabwe delegation “started complaining as soon as they arrived” in Tunis, refusing to pay entry visas at the airport, as they did not have sufficient funds, which led to a delay of four hours at the airport.
“We had to contact [the] CEO of Rugby Africa who spoke on the phone with the head of the delegation of Zimbabwe who subsequently agreed to pay the invoice of the visa fees,” the union said in a statement.
The team transferred to Beja, but hours after checking in vacated their rooms and slept on the street outside to protest what they said was poor conditions.
“The head of the Zimbabwean delegation expressed reservations about the state of the bathroom in one of the rooms, the lack of a swimming pool and the low Internet speed, so he started talking about leaving the hotel on the pretext that it is not decent enough for his team,” the statement said.
“He asked all the members of the delegation to take out their luggage, leave the hotel and spend the night outside on the ground,” it added. “Local officials tried to talk and negotiate with the head of delegation, but remained unsuccessful.”
The team transferred to a nearby hotel in Nefza the following morning and accepted an apology from the union, although Tunisian authorities said they felt the protest was unjustified.
“The Tunisian Rugby Union expresses its deep regret for this unfortunate event and strongly deplores the anti-sports and unethical actions of the Zimbabwean delegation, which do not reflect the strong ties of friendship between the two countries,” the statement said.
Namibia head the standings with a maximum 15 points from three matches, while Zimbabwe have a draw and a defeat.
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