Argentine judges clear French rugby players Auradou and Jégou of raping woman

Judges in Argentina on Tuesday cleared the France international rugby players Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jégou of raping a 39-year-old woman in a hotel room hours after appearing in the starting line-up for the first time in the senior team.

Auradou and Jégou, both 21, had been under investigation since 12 July for alleged aggravated rape — a charge used for suspected gang rape — in Mendoza, western Argentina.

The men denied the accusation. They claimed the woman, who they had met in a night club in the city, had consented.

Judge Eleonora Arenas dismissed the case against the players. "The facts investigated do not constitute a crime," she told the court in Mendoza.

The men were arrested in Buenos Aires on 8 July as the France squad was preparing to leave for a Test match against Uruguay in Montevideo.

The two players spent several days in detention and almost a month under house arrest in Argentina. They were eventually allowed to leave the country at the start of September, when they returned to France.

Two France rugby players held in Argentina over alleged sexual assault

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"It was very difficult here but we did it," said Rafael Cuneo Libarona, the mens' lawyer in Argentina. "I always believed in the innocence of the players."

It was followed with the allegations against Auradou and Jégou.

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