Boks multati per "Justice 4"

[Pakeha_70]

SARU and players guilty of bringing game into disrepute

The South African Rugby Union, members of the South Africa squad and team officials have been found guilty of acts of bringing the Game of Rugby into disrepute in breach of the IRB Regulations Relating to the Game.

The ruling was issued today by an Independent Disciplinary Committee chaired by the Honourable Sir John Hansen KNZM (New Zealand), His Honour Judge Guillermo Tragant (Argentina) and former Australian captain Mr John Eales AM (Australia). The independence of the Committee is a feature of the IRB judicial system which is respected by the IRB and its constituent members.

The action arises from the South Africa national team and management wearing armbands during the third Test against the British & Irish Lions on July 4 as a protest action following the upholding of Bakkies Botha’s two-week suspension by an independent Appeal Committee for dangerously charging into a ruck without binding onto a player.

The guilty verdicts follow a misconduct hearing before the Independent Committee which was held in Dublin on August 10. During the hearing, the Committee heard submissions and evidence from SARU and members of the South Africa national team and team management (including John Smit and Peter de Villiers, the Springbok captain and coach respectively), before retiring to consider its verdict and sanction.

While, for technical legal reasons, the Independent Committee dismissed the Misconduct charges under Regulation 17, the committee expressly found that on the merits of the case the actions of SARU, its players and team management “brought the game into disrepute, criticised the judicial process and was misconduct”. The Independent Committee separately noted “such misconduct to be serious” in nature and commented that “there has been no formal apology, acknowledgement, contrition or clarification from either the players or the SARU themselves”.

The Independent Committee made it very clear in its ruling that “the playing arena is no place for protest” and that the wearing of the armbands “showed a serious lack of respect and consideration for their opponents”. It was clear that “If players choose to wear on their uniforms armbands or other emblems which bring the game into disrepute, then they have breached that Regulation [11]”.

The Independent Committee criticised SARU “because they allowed the Game and the IRB to be brought into disrepute by not only by failing to attempt to prevent this protest, but by approving of it and effectively consenting to [...] conduct which was prejudicial to the best interests of the IRB and of the Game”.

The Independent Committee therefore imposed a fine of £10,000 on SARU, £200 against each of the other players who wore the protest armbands and £1,000 against John Smit who the Committee determined as captain of the South Africa team has greater role model responsibilities.

The Independent Committee was unanimous in its view that, had it not been for the legal technicalities (including the fact that the Committee felt it had to take a “necessarily strict interpretation” of certain aspects of Regulation 17), both SARU and the Springbok players and management would have faced much more serious sanctions, including a more severe fine in the case of SARU and the suspension of the Springbok players and management from the Rugby World Cup 2011 (such sanction to have been suspended in the absence of further acts of Misconduct before then).

The Independent Committee ended its judgment with a clear statement that it believes its decision will deter “all rugby players from adopting such an unwise and ill considered way to make their feelings clear to the IRB, or the general rugby watching public”.

The IRB had sought significant sanctions in this case which was unique in Rugby terms, dealing collectively with a Union, its national representative team and senior management who acted in unison without regard for the best interests of the Game.

Whilst welcoming the guilty verdicts, the IRB is extremely disappointed at the level of sanctions imposed against the South African Rugby Union and its players in light of the clear findings that they have brought the Game of Rugby into disrepute and acted in a manner which is prejudicial to the best interests of the IRB and the Game of Rugby.

The IRB is giving urgent and serious consideration to the decision of the Independent Committee and the further options available to it, which include whether or not to bring an appeal against the level of sanctions imposed by the Committee. This ruling will be taken into consideration along with the recent Burger and Parisse eye-gouging cases, as part of the IRB’s ongoing review of Regulation 17.

The IRB works tirelessly with all 116 Member Unions and key stakeholders to ensure the safety of players and the reputation of the Game is protected.

The IRB will be making no further comment on this case while it considers its options.

Note:

The IRB has 14 days from the date of the written decision in which to make any appeal in relation to sanctions.

[ItalianRugbyFriends]

Multa ridicola, anche se la squalifica sarebbe stata eccessiva. In ogni caso, a me rimane un dubbio (ho contattato l'Irb, aspetto risposta): ma De Villiers, che indossava la fascia, è stato multato? Stessa multa dei giocatori o del capitano? O l'ha sfangata anche questa volta?

[ItalianRugbyFriends]

Mi rispondo da solo e ringrazio l'Irb per la pronta risposta: Peter de Villiers ha subito una multa alla stregua dei giocatori e dei dirigenti che indossavano la fascia, cioé 230 euro.