An international arrest warrant has been issued for former Leinster player and Australia rugby captain Rocky Elsom over his conduct as president of French club Narbonne in 2015 and 2016, French media reported.
The 41-year-old was found guilty in absentia of forgery, use of forgery and misuse of corporate assets by a Narbonne court on Friday, AFP, French sports daily L’Equipe and other media said on Friday.
A powerful blindside flanker, Elsom played 75 tests for Australia and captained the Wallabies from 2009 until just before the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Elsom spent one season at Leinster in 2008-2009 and was instrumental in the club winning its first Heineken Cup title. He played 21 of 23 games in that season, including the nine European games.
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He told the Sunday Times in an interview published last weekend that he had arrived in Ireland six weeks previously and he was coaching rugby in a Dublin school, planning to stay in the country until December while recovering from an injury.
Elsom was due to attend the Leinster v Munster URC match in Croke Park on Saturday evening as a guest of Leinster Rugby.
A spokesman for Leinster said that, while Elsom was due to appear at a questions and answer session, that did not happen.
Sources said that Leinster had been blindsided by the news and had immediately withdrawn the invitation when it emerged that Elsom had been convicted by the French court in his absence and sentenced to five years in prison. – Additional reporting Reuters
