Rugby, Champions Cup: “The English authorities don’t want to know anything”, four UBB players including Louis Bielle-Biarrey stuck at Bristol airport
Quick Look
Four Union Bordeaux-Bègles players, including winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey, are stranded at Bristol Airport due to an expired electronic travel authorization (ETA) linked to their old passports, preventing them from joining the team for Friday's Champions Cup match against Gloucester.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Union Bordeaux-Bègles is the double defending champion of the Champions Cup and must face Gloucester in the group stage. ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization) is required to enter the UK since the end of post-Brexit free movement.
The tile. Four Bordeaux-Bègles players, including star winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey, were not authorized to enter England on Thursday and are stuck at Bristol airport for administrative reasons on the eve of the opening of the Champions Cup in Gloucester, AFP learned from a member of the club.
Bielle-Biarrey, the third row Romain Gardrat, the left pillar Matis Perchaud and the Tongan right pillar Toma Taufa, as well as a physical trainer, Manu Espiasse, were unable to leave the airport and follow the Gironde delegation to its hotel near Gloucester, an hour's drive away. The four players and this member of staff are accused of not having an up-to-date ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization), this certificate being essential to enter the United Kingdom.
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Authorities warned
According to this source, their ETAs are associated with their old passports, which they changed this year, without taking the necessary steps to obtain new ones. “The English authorities don’t want to know anything. Although we have told them that these are high-level athletes, including a well-known French international, who have come to play a European Rugby Cup match, they are inflexible. The players are stuck at the airport,” this source told AFP.
She also emphasizes that the club is doing everything possible to resolve the problem. “We warned the authorities, the mayor of Bordeaux Thomas Cazenave (former minister of Emmanuel Macron), the French embassy in London so that things could be unblocked,” added this source. Bordeaux-Bègles, double champions of the Champions Cup, must face Gloucester at Kingsholm Stadium on Friday at 9:00 p.m.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Players will obtain a new ETA and rejoin the team prior to Friday night's game.
Likely · Within days
Open Questions
- Will players be able to get a new ETA in time for Friday's game?
- What impact will their absence have on the composition of the team?
- Is the club planning any sanctions or internal procedures following this administrative incident?
