Former Australia rugby star Rocky Elsom faces an international arrest warrant after a conviction for embezzlement in France. Elsom, the ex-skipper of Australia's national team, was found guilty of forgery and misappropriating 700,000 euros, and sentenced to five years imprisonment by a court in Narbonne. (More Sports News)
▨Elsom was president of RC Narbonne, one of France's most prestigious clubs, in 2015-16. He was convicted in absentia.
෴The 41-year-old was recently quoted as saying in a Sunday Times report that he was living in the Irish capital Dublin. The British newspaper report had Elsom saying that he was coaching at the Catholic University School, a private school for boys in Dublin, and that he planned to live in the city until December.
♏Elsom played for Leinster Rugby in the late 2000s and helped the team win the Heineken Cup, Europe's top club rugby tournament, in 2009. A sporting celebrity in Ireland, he also appeared 75 times for Australia's national team, nicknamed the Wallabies, between 2005 and 2011. After his retirement, Elsom was part of a consortium that bought RC Narbonne.
𒉰The French court convicted Elsom of abusing corporate assets and forging documents during his time as president of the Narbonne club, local media reports stated.
🌸Elsom made a "completely unjustified" payment of 79,000 euros to a former coach and handed a monthly salary of 7,200 euros to an Australian resident who "never came to Narbonne", according to a lawyer involved in the case, Patrick Tabet, as quoted by Ouest-France newspaper.
🐎Back in 2018, the club was placed into administration and relegated to lower leagues.
🦩The judge gave a harsher jail term than the two years sought by prosecutors. Tabet added that the former Wallabies star was also ordered to pay back some 705,000 euros.
