Swiss National Teams will not participate in Rugby Europe Competitions

Zurich, 23.03.2020 - The Swiss Rugby Union has made the difficult decision to not send its XVs or 7s rugby national teams to participate in the Rugby Europe Competitions scheduled for the spring and summer of 2020. While we recognize the inherent complexities around a postponement or cancellation from Rugby Europe’s perspective, we must protect the interests of our players and staff and give them some certainty in this time of uncertainty, by making a decision right now. This will allow them to put their full focus where it should be at this time: on keeping themselves and their loved ones safe, and on weathering the financial crisis this puts our countries and many individuals in.

While it would be unsafe and counter to all principles of player welfare, for our athletes to participate in international competitions unprepared, it is currently not safe for our athletes, nor for their families, if they continue to try and train towards these international competitions. Not only is it impossible to train, because all sports facilities have been ordered to close by the government, but it also runs counter to the government ordinance to “Stay At Home” and to avoid gatherings of more than 5 people, as well as travel via public transport, etc. We as the Swiss Rugby Family have made a commitment to follow these, and to stand in solidarity with those members of our communities and of our society who are weaker and more vulnerable, by doing our part in stopping the spread of the Coronavirus.

The Swiss Rugby Union is thankful to Rugby Europe for emphasising that "in this exceptional global pandemic, we must consider that the priority is to protect the health and safety of players, coaches, officials and fans.” We applaud Rugby Europe’s President Octavian Morariu for this statement which we have adopted as our guiding principle in the decision above.