Ospreys fined €117,000

Cool_CM

From the Irish Times

Ospreys slapped with €117,000 fine
The Ospreys have been fined £100,000 (€117,000) and will be deducted four points for the 20101-2011 Magners League season after failing to fulfil their Round 11 match away to Ulster on Friday Match 19th.

A Celtic Rugby disciplinary panel met in Glasgow yesterday to hear a misconduct complaint against the Welsh side under the Magners League tournament rules 2009/10.

The Ravenhill clash was postponed after the Welsh side claimed they did not have sufficient frontrow cover to fulfil the fixture.

With Paul James, Adam Jones and Huw Bennett in action for Wales in the Six Nations, the Ospreys said they did not have frontline players of sufficient quality and were not prepared to use players from their feeder clubs.

The disciplinary panel found the Ospreys breached the tournament rules and consequently their actions amounted to misconduct and imposed the sanctions.

It is not the first time the Ospreys have been investigated by rugby authorities this season. European Rugby fined the Welsh team €25,000 for having 16 players on the pitch against Leicester in a Heineken Cup match in January and Lee Byrne was fined €5,000 as the player in that incident to have come on to the pitch illegally.

Ospreys were also investigated over South African scrumhalf Ricky Januarie’s contract but were found to have no case to answer.

http://www.irishtimes.com/sports/rugby/2010/0513/1224270353089.html

shawpower

Jaysus, when I read that first time I thought they meant deducted for this year. I was thinking that the whole semi's lineup was changed. :eek: :eek:

Pity it wasn't this year in some ways. Prefer to see penalties imposed for the competition they were committed in.

PhatPiggins

shawpower wrote: »

Jaysus, when I read that first time I thought they meant deducted for this year. I was thinking that the whole semi's lineup was changed. :eek: :eek:

Pity it wasn't this year in some ways. Prefer to see penalties imposed for the competition they were committed in.

In almost any other sport they would be punished this season. Rugby has been professional for over a decade now, why are we still stuck with amateur administrators?

Cool_CM

shawpower wrote: »

Jaysus, when I read that first time I thought they meant deducted for this year. I was thinking that the whole semi's lineup was changed. :eek: :eek:

If it was deducted, it would probably only serve to change the venue of the fixture and give Glasgow the home advantage. Logistically a change in venue from Wales to Scotland 2 days before the fixture, this was probably in the back of their minds when they were making the call.

shawpower wrote: »

Pity it wasn't this year in some ways. Prefer to see penalties imposed for the competition they were committed in.

Totally agree. Especially seeing as the reason they called the fixture off was because of the fact that their front row was on Welsh duty as opposed to the other matches that were cancelled and rescheduled for weather reasons. Look at Leinster who had the match called off in Galway as people were on their way to the stadium. This match was rescheduled, even if it did cause considerable hassle to play 2 league matches and a Heineken Cup match in the space of a week. Everybody knows that the Magners League still goes on during the 6 Nations, there is no excuse for not playing because your best players aren't there.

shanagarry

I absolutely agree with the above - their actions affected this year's competition, so their punishment should be in this year's competition. Why did it take so long for the disciplinary hearing? If it had been convened swiftly there would have been plenty of time to take action before getting to play-off stage.

crisco10

:eek:

the correct decision but the fact it took MONTHS to come to it is a joke. The Ospreys should have been punished this season for what they did this season. It's not like any new info came to light. If I didn't turn up for work one day, my boss wouldn't take 5 months to decide what to do then another 5 until the punishment had an affect.

I agree at this stage its too late, but this decision should have been made ages ago. If they had met a WEEK earlier, the playoffs would not have been affected!

Digifriendly

If Ulster had finished say 4 points behind Connacht in ML wonder would they have appealed this decision and asked for 4 points to be awarded to them?

PhatPiggins

Digifriendly wrote: »

If Ulster had finished say 4 points behind Connacht in ML wonder would they have appealed this decision and asked for 4 points to be awarded to them?

Very good question. Isn't a failure to fullfil a fixture usually a forefit in most sports?