Argentina believe racist Pablo Matera tweets resurfaced as retaliation from the Argentinian public for a perceived lack of respect from the team for Diego Maradona
The Pumas have moved to sack captain Matera and suspend him for this weekend's clash with Australia, along with team-mates Guido Pettit and Santiago Socino, for a series of 'discriminatory and xenophobic'' tweets from 2011 and 2012.
Those vile tweets related to Bolivian and Paraguayan domestic staff and black people, bringing into effect an emergency UAR board meeting, where it was decided Matera's position as captain was no longer tenable.
And reports in Australia claim the Matera tweets resurfaced as a result of a public backlash following Argentina's tribute to the late Maradona.
Sources close to the Argentinian team told the Herald that they believe the Matera tweets were shared online to sabotage the team after they'd been the subject of an intense backlash from the Argentinian public for a perceived lack of respect for football legend Maradona in the wake of his passing last week.
The Pumas wore black armbands against New Zealand as a tribute to the icon but were arguably upstaged by the All Blacks, who laid a No.10 jersey with Maradona's name across it down prior to performing the haka. It was a gesture that received huge praise across the world
As a result, Argentina's Instagram page was bombarded with comments - with Matera even putting out an apology alongside the entire Argentina team for their perceived lack of respect for Maradona.
Regardless of how the tweets resurfaced, the Argentina Rugby Union issued a statement on Tuesday condemning the comments and announcing the sacking of Matera.
“The Argentine Rugby Union strongly repudiates the discriminatory and xenophobic comments published by members of the Los Pumas team on social media and meeting as an emergency, the board of directors resolves to, in the first place, revoke the captaincy of Pablo Matera and request the staff to propose a new captain to the board of directors.
“Second, suspend Pablo Matera, Guido Petti and Santiago Socino from the national team until their disciplinary situation is defined.”
Matera has now gone dark on social media, but did post a statement on Instagram, saying: "I had a tougher time. I am very ashamed. Apologies to all those who were offended by the atrocities I wrote,” Matera posted on Instagram.
“At that moment I did not imagine who I was going to become. Today I have to take charge of what I said nine years ago. I’m also sorry to my team and my family for the moment they are going through my actions and thanks to the people who love me for their support.”
