Argentina: Rugby Players Sentenced for Murder

Facts

This wraps up a widely covered four-week trial over a case that has shocked Argentina. The 18-year-old Báez Sosa was reportedly attacked outside a nightclub in the coastal resort city of Villa Gesell by the group of rugby players, who beat him to death before leaving to buy hamburgers.
A court in the Argentinean town of Dolores has found eight amateur rugby players — who are now between the ages of 21 and 23 —guilty of the 2020 killing of aspiring law student Fernando Báez Sosa.
The eight attackers were all teammates at a small, provincial rugby club, a sport that is traditionally played and watched by a wealthy elite in Argentina.
On Monday, Máximo Thomsen, Enzo Comelli, Matías Benicelli, Ciro Pertossi, and his brother Luciano Pertossi were convicted as co-perpetrators of homicide with premeditation and malice.
Meanwhile, Ayrton Viollaz, Blas Cinalli, and Lucas Pertossi were condemned to 15 years in jail for their role in the crime. All eight had been held in pre-trial detention since Báez Sosa died in January 2020.
The killing of the only son of Paraguayan immigrants has sparked debate about racism, as the attackers reportedly used racist slurs against darker-skinned Báez Sosa during the assault.

Left narrative, as provided by Buenos aires times. The killing of Báez Sosa is a product of classism, racism, toxic masculinity, and violence that have long permeated Argentina's culture. Rugby's 'herd mentality' and the normalization of cruelty also played a significant role. The debate should not be about whether the attackers are psychopaths, but rather about the society that has produced toxic conditions.
Right narrative, as provided by Unherd. It's sad that a sport like a rugby is being exploited by some who espouse post-modern 'woke' values to discuss virtue-signaling concepts such as 'toxic masculinity.' This assault was a tragedy and the focus should be on holding violent criminals accountable — not ideological grandstanding.