Misconduct Charge Against Swansea Upheld

At a meeting of an independent Disciplinary Committee convened by ERC, Welsh clubSwansea RFC were found to have unintentionally breached the rules of the tournament

Representatives of Swansea RFC appeared before an independent Disciplinary Committee in Dublin today (Wednesday, 6 November) to answer a charge of Misconduct brought by the ERC Disciplinary Officer.

The charge related to the use by Swansea in their Heineken Cup match against Montferrand on 12 October, 2002 of two players (Gavin Henson and Dean Thomas) who had been red carded in a Celtic League match against Llanelli the previous week.

The cases against these players had not been heard by the WRU Disciplinary Committee at the date of the Montferrand match and this contravened Rule 8.4.4 of the Heineken Cup Disciplinary Rules incorporated in the Participation Agreement signed by Swansea.

Swansea admitted the offence and the Disciplinary Committee – Robert Horner, (RFU) Chairman, Peter Brown (SRU) and David Hurst (RFU – accepted that the default was unintentional as a result of negligence, and was not a deliberate breach of the rules.

Taking account of the circumstances of the case and the importance to ERC, and all participants in the Heineken Cup, of the observance of the Rules of the Tournament, the Disciplinary Panel imposed the following sanctions: –

1. That Swansea be deducted two Heineken Cup pool points, suspended until the conclusion of the Final in 2004. Should Swansea be convicted of a Misconduct offence occurring before that time, the deduction will take effect unless the Disciplinary Committee hearing the subsequent case decides otherwise.
2. That a fine of 2,000 (#/ ??) be imposed and such fine to be paid within 30 days.

The panel exercised its right to order Swansea to pay the costs of the hearing.