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Published 19:04 15 May 2018 BST
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The investigation was preceded by a match where Spain played Romania where if Spain lost - Romania - who were then in second place in the table behind Georgia - would qualify.
A Romanian match official Vlad Iordachescu had been appointed to officiate at the match with Romania winning 18-0 and advancing to the Rugby World Cup pool stages.
However, the match was marred by an incident following the match where Iordachescu was harassed by five Spanish players who were banned for their part in the post-match altercation.
The independent disputes committee claimed that the appointment of Iordachescu was 'not made in bad faith and that there was not sufficient justification to overturn the result because of the “appearance of bias”.
"The principle that “the referee’s position as sole judge of fact and law during the match is unassailable” is a core principle of rugby, as is the very limited jurisdiction of a Disciplinary Committee to overturn the decisions of referees
made on the pitch after the game," a World Rugby statement read.
"We accept that if corruption or the bad faith of a referee is proved then the Panel would exercise the jurisdiction that it has (as explained above) to overturn the result of the game.
"However, the invitation to overturn a result because of the “appearance of bias” or because of the unsatisfactory way that Rugby Europe dealt with the proper request made by Spain to remove the match officials, is in our judgment not sufficient.
"This is because much more is required to set aside the decisions of the referee after the event, or to order a replay. Further, there is no precedent for a Disputes or Disciplinary Committee to set aside the result of a match in such circumstances.
"Taking such a step would undermine the respect to which decisions of referees are entitled, absent corruption or bad faith."Prendergast admits huge disappointment at Munster situation
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