Black Rugby Stars Betrayed: Millions Vanish in White-Run French Club Scam

South African rugby players, many of them Black stars who built their careers on the legacy of the 1995 World Cup, have been swindled out of hundreds of thousands of euros in a fraudulent scheme tied to the proposed takeover of French club Béziers. The money, meant to 'unlock' a €100m loan, instead vanished into a private bank account in Poland, exposing a predatory network that preyed on the trust and ambition of players seeking post-career security.

This is not just a financial crime. It is a stark reminder that the structures of exploitation that defined the apartheid era have not disappeared. They have merely changed their uniforms, trading rugby blazers for suits and bank statements.

How the deal was sold to players

Rugby agent Anthony Johnson and former Springbok scrum-half Johan Roux, a member of the 1995 World Cup-winning squad, pitched a dream to players: invest upfront to 'unlock' a massive loan that would buy the fallen French giant Béziers outright. The promise was a 66% return in just one month.

One former Sharks hooker paid €120,000 (about R2.2m) in October 2021 after a Zoom meeting arranged by Johnson, his agent of 15 years. Roux joined the call to lend credibility. The player, who asked to remain anonymous, said he was told the money was needed to activate collateral for a €100m loan.

'Anthony set up the Zoom meeting and Johan joined after. Anthony asked me to pay the money, and Johan was behind it,' the player told IOL. 'And because after five years I have received no money, my lawyers assisted me in opening a criminal complaint with police in Poland.'

Where did the money actually go?

The money did not go to Béziers. It was transferred in 12 payments of €10,000 each to an account held by Antonino Pane, an Italian national who describes himself as CEO of Eurokredit Merchant Bank, at Alior Bank in Warsaw, Poland. Polish police have opened a criminal case.

Roux claimed the players' money was used as collateral to secure a much larger loan from Eurokredit, which he described as 'a merchant bank we got in Italy and in Poland.' But he refused to disclose what the collateral was, who held it, or provide proof of his own investment.

On a recording heard by IOL, Roux told the hooker: 'You are not dealing with some fringer. It is a registered merchant bank.' He also suggested routing the promised €80,000 profit through Cyprus, Poland or Latvia to avoid French taxes, and assured him a Cypriot bank CEO had personally backed the deal.

A pattern of exploitation rooted in rugby's colonial legacy

This scandal is not an isolated incident. It is the latest chapter in a long history of Black athletes being used as cash cows by white intermediaries who control access to the sport's financial corridors. The 1995 World Cup victory was hailed as a moment of national unity, but for many Black players, the spoils of that victory never materialised. Now, decades later, the same dynamics are playing out in a new form.

All eight South African companies Roux is registered as a director of are deregistered or in liquidation. Global Sport Capital, the company through which the deal was supposedly structured, is not registered in South Africa at all. Roux said the company that would become Global Sport Capital is an American public company of which he is chairman, but provided no proof.

The promised insurance cover of at least €1m was to come from a company named 'Heuler Hermes' in the agreement. No such company exists. The real trade credit insurer, Euler Hermes (now Allianz Trade), has been asked to confirm whether any policy was ever issued.

Roux, Johnson and Joubert: victims or accomplices?

All three men deny wrongdoing. Roux said the ordeal cost him his marriage. Johnson said he lost about €100,000 of his own money and is working 'around the clock' to rectify the situation. Rudy Joubert, the former Bulls coach and Springbok management member, said he spent about R500,000 on travel and legal costs and has received nothing back.

But the evidence tells a different story. Roux initially said he had never seen the agreement the player signed, before later acknowledging he had. He said he was mandated in writing by Pane to raise money, but would not produce the mandate. He said he put in 'far more' than the hooker, but would not say how much or confirm whether his own money went to the same account.

Johnson, an RFU-accredited agent and director of the SA Rugby Agents Association, gave IOL proof of three payments totalling €91,500 into Pane's Warsaw account, sent by an Irish company of his. He also confirmed that another player's money had passed through his company account on the way to Pane. It is unclear whether the money he called his own was actually his, or belonged to other players.

On a second recording, Johnson discussed buying the club and raising more money for it, but said he could not openly hold an interest because of his work. Agents are barred from having a financial interest in clubs to which they place players. Johnson said there was no conflict because he is not licensed in France and had not disclosed the arrangement to any accrediting body.

Joubert, who was expected to become Béziers' president, said he only negotiated rugby matters. 'I know the players acted because they knew me and my reputation as somebody that has got integrity,' he said. 'I was a professional rugby coach all my life. I coached the Springboks. I was involved in three World Cups. I'm 64 years old now and I am the head of sport at a high school. I had to start all over again. I had to relocate to a small town. I sold my car.'

What the players say now

Both players who spoke to IOL believe it was a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul, with money from each new investor used to keep previous ones quiet. The hooker said he has received nothing despite five years of correspondence and four letters from Pane, each blaming something new: an €800,000 investment about to close, American banks nervous about Russia, the war in Ukraine, funding from China.

Nothing was settled. No bonus was paid. The 30-day deadline came and went. The player's lawyers have opened a criminal complaint in Poland, and IOL has seen the case number.

Roux, Johnson and Joubert all said they had not been contacted by any law enforcement agency and had not known a case had been opened.

What must happen now

This case demands more than a police investigation. It demands that SA Rugby and the Rugby Football Union examine how agents are accredited and monitored. It demands that players, especially Black players who have given their bodies and careers to the sport, are protected from predators who see them as nothing more than ATMs.

The 1995 generation was promised a place in the new South Africa. Instead, some of them are still fighting for what is rightfully theirs, while the architects of their exploitation walk free. The system that allowed this to happen must be dismantled, and those responsible must be held accountable.

For the players who lost their money, the fight continues. For the rest of us, the lesson is clear: trust is not a substitute for due diligence, and the structures of the old regime are still very much alive.