An international arrest warrant has been issued against the former Australia rugby captain Rocky Elsom who was sentenced in his absence to five years in prison by a French court for misuse of corporate assets, a lawyer in the case told AFP.

Charges were brought after Elsom’s spell as president of French club Narbonne between 2015 and 2016.

Elsom, who played 75 times for the Wallabies, was also found guilty of forgery and ordered to pay back €705,000 (A$1.1m), the lawyer Patrick Tabet told AFP.

Elsom, who was president of the club in 2015-16, was also accused of having paid €79,000 to a former coach when “nothing could justify it” and of hiring for about €7,200 a month an individual living in Australia who “never came to Narbonne” and “did not perform any service” for the club, the lawyer said.

The president of the court handed down a sentence higher than the prosecutor’s request of two years in prison.

Narbonne, champions of France in 1936 and 1979, were placed in liquidation and relegated in 2018, after years of financial difficulties.

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