MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lacalle Pou played rugby with Uruguayan and Argentinean prisoners and accidentally hit a police chief

After the kickoff, which was in charge of the president, the oval ball flew and ended up hitting the chief of police of Maldonado in the head.

This week, the president of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, participated in a sporting event involving people deprived of liberty, more specifically a rugby match between prisoners from Argentina and Uruguay.

Lacalle Pou emphasized in Maldonado (eastern Uruguay) the use of this sport as a tool for the rehabilitation of persons deprived of liberty.

In addition, the president, who played rugby in his youth, was in charge of kicking off the match between the Proyecto Fénix team (Unit No. 13 of Las Rosas, Uruguay) and Fundación Espartanos, from Argentina. After this gesture, the president kicked the oval ball and it ended up hitting the chief of police of Maldonado, Julio Pioli (see video).

LACALLE POU JUGÓ AL RUGBY CON PRIVADOS DE LIBERTAD, SE METIÓ TANTO EL PERSONAJE QUE LE DIO UN PELOTAZO AL JEFE DE POLICÍA JULIO PIOLI (HUMOR) pic.twitter.com/3T2fKywpZs

— Cronicas Del Este (@CronicasDelEste) April 26, 2022

Amidst laughter from those present, the president continued to make some passes between the players. At the end of the event, Lacalle Pou gave a press conference in which he emphasized that he had experienced an “inspiring” day.

“In this case, people from Argentina and Uruguay, who are incarcerated human beings, found in sports a way to gather values and look for a way to get out of the criminal circuit. This is a sport of great sacrifice and very clear rules, in which one of the premises is that the judge is always right,” said the president.

“It is a tough sport, with physical contact, but loyal physical contact. It has something that for me is fundamental, it is essentially a team game. The rules are made so that everyone has to get along well and everyone has to respect their teammate,” he said.

According to the presidential website, once the game was over, the president gave medals and trophies to the participants.

The Spartans Foundation has been working since 2009 in Argentina, with the aim of transforming the lives of people deprived of liberty through rugby, education, spirituality and links with the world of work.

In 2019, the Fénix Foundation replicated this program in the 13th rehabilitation unit, Las Rosas. This experience is implemented in six countries: Chile, El Salvador, Spain, Kenya, Peru and Uruguay.