RFU Disciplinary guide
RFU announces tougher
disciplinary procedures for 2005/2006
The RFU
Disciplinary Officer, HHJ Jeff Blackett, has announced new disciplinary
procedures which have been approved by the RFU Council and will come into force
for all domestic rugby matches on 1st September 2005, having already been
introduced for international and ERC matches on 1st January 2005. He told a RFU
disciplinary conference on 3rd July 2005 that the new procedures, which were
approved by the IRB at their General Council meeting last November, are designed
to improve consistency in dealing with foul play across the whole game and
provide a tougher sanctioning regime to deter would-be offenders.
Blackett said that there has never been any place in rugby for
gratuitous acts of violence but he is concerned that there appears to be a level
of acceptance within the game that some violent foul play is acceptable - and it
is not. Nick Hawkins, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service in Hampshire and
the Isle of Wight, told the conference that sport is not above or outside the
law and sportsmen remain subject to the criminal law when on the field of play.
It is, therefore, important that sports governing bodies deal properly with
those people who step outside the laws of the game and commit violent acts of
foul play, to satisfy the CPS that they do not need to become involved.
"There is going to be a much tougher stance both in deciding who should
be brought before disciplinary panels and the level of sanction applied," said
Blackett. "I shall be instructing citing officers to be much more proactive in
bringing violent acts to the attention of the disciplinary process and I shall
be encouraging referees to use the red card more often. I am sure that once the
players get the message the level of violence will reduce, and that can only be
good for the game and its image."
Extracts from the new regulations are
printed below. All offences will now be designated as lower end, mid range or
top end in terms of seriousness with different sentencing entry points.
Sanctions applied will then depend on whether the recommended entry point should
be increased because of aggravating factors or decreased to take account of
mitigation. Results from the disciplinary conference, where syndicates examined
recent incidents of foul play, indicate that average sanctions will be higher
than those awarded under the old regime.
Extracts from RFU
Disciplinary Regulations
10.5.1 When imposing sanctions,
disciplinary panels dealing with an ordering off and/or citing shall apply the
recommended penalties for illegal and/or foul play set out in appendix 3.
10.5.2 Disciplinary panels shall undertake an assessment of the
seriousness of the player's conduct which constitutes the offending and
categorise the offence as being at the lower end, mid range or top end of the
scale of seriousness in order to identify the appropriate entry point for
consideration of a particular incident(s) where such incident(s) is expressly
covered in appendix 3. Such assessment of the seriousness of the player's
conduct shall be determined by reference to the following features of offending:
(a) The offending was intentional, that is, committed intentionally or
deliberately;
(b) The offending was reckless, that is the player knew (or
should have known) there was a risk of committing an act of illegal and/or foul
play;
(c) The gravity of the player's actions in relation to the
offence:
(i) Nature of actions, manner in which offence committed including
part of body used, i.e. fist, elbow, knee or boot;
(ii) The existence of
provocation and whether the player acted in extent of injury, removal of player
from game);
(d) The effect of the offending player's actions on the victim
(i.e.extent of injury, removal of player from game);
(e) The effect of
offending player's actions on the game;
(f) The vulnerability of victim
player including part of victim's body involved/affected, position of player,
ability to defend himself;
(g) The level of participation in the offending
and level of premeditation;
(h) Whether the conduct of the offending player
was completed or amounted to an attempt;
(i) Any other feature relevant to
the offending.
Based on the assessment of the offence(s) under
consideration against the above features of offending, the disciplinary panel
shall categorise the offence(s) as being at the lower end, mid range or
top end of the scale of seriousness of offending and identify the
applicable entry point where set out in appendix 3.
10.5.3 Having
identified the applicable entry point for consideration of a particular
incident, disciplinary panels shall identify all relevant aggravating factors
and determine what additional period of suspension, if any, above the applicable
entry point for the offence should apply to the case in question. Aggravating
factors include the following:
(a) An absence of lack of remorse and/or
contrition on the part of the offending player;
(b) The player's status as a
persistent offender of the laws of the game;
(c) The need for a deterrent to
combat a pattern of offending;
(d) Any other off field aggravating factor
that the disciplinary panel considers relevant and appropriate.
10.5.4
Thereafter, disciplinary panels shall identify all relevant mitigating factors
and determine if there are grounds for reducing the period of suspension, if
any. Mitigating factors include the following:
(a) The presence and
timing of an acknowledgement of culpability/guilt by the offending
player;
(b) A good record and/or good character;
(c) The age and
experience of the player;
(d) The player's conduct prior to and at the
hearing;
(e) Remorse to the player's actions and the victim player;
(f)
Any other off field mitigating factors the panel considers relevant and
appropriate.
|
DESCRIPTION
AND LAW |
ENTRY POINT
BASED ON Scale of Seriousness of the Player's conduct, which constitutes
the offending. Lower End (LE), Mid Range (MR), Top End (TE).
|
MAXIMUM
SANCTION |
|
10(4)(a)
Striking another player with the hand, arm, fist including the
elbow |
LE - 2
weeks
MR - 3 months
TE - 6 months |
12
Months |
|
10(4)(a)
Striking an opponent with the head (head butt) |
LE - 6
weeks
MR - 6 months
TE - 12 months |
24
months |
|
10(4)(a)
Striking an opponent with the knee |
LE - 2
weeks
MR - 3 months
TE - 6 months |
12
months |
|
10(4)(b)
Stamping or trampling an opponent |
LE - 1
month
MR - 3 months
TE - 9 months |
12
months |
|
10(4)(c)
Kicking an opponent |
LE - 3
months
MR - 9 months
TE - 12 months |
18
months |
|
10(4)(d)
Tripping an opponent with the foot/leg |
LE - 1 week
MR - 4 weeks
TE - 6 weeks |
3
months |
|
10(4)(e)
Dangerous tackling an opponent, including early or late and including the
action known as the "stiff arm tackle" |
LE - 2
weeks
MR - 6 weeks
TE - 3 months |
6
months |
|
10(4)(f)
Dangerous charging or obstructing or grabbing the opponent without the
ball, including shouldering |
LE - 2
weeks
MR - 3 months
TE - 6 months |
12
months |
|
10(4)(f)
Playing an opponent without the ball. To hold, push, charge, obstruct an
opponent not carrrying the ball, except in a scrum, ruck or
maul |
LE - 1 week
MR - 3 weeks
TE - 4 weeks |
6
weeks |
|
10(4)(g)
Dangerous charging or obstructing or grabbing of opponent carrying the
ball, including shouldering, without trying to grasp the
player |
LE - 2
weeks
MR - 3 months
TE - 6 months |
12
months |
|
10(4)(i) To
cause a scrum, ruck or maul to collapse |
LE - 1 week
MR - 3 weeks
TE - 6 weeks |
3
months |
|
10(4)(k)
Biting an opponent |
LE - 6
months
MR - 12 months
TE - 24 months |
36
months |
|
10(4)(k)
Contact with eyes or eye area |
LE - 3
months
MR - 9 months
TE - 18 months |
24
months |
|
10(4)(k)
Testicle grabbing or twisting or squeezing |
LE - 3
months
MR - 9 months
TE - 12 months |
24
months |
|
10(4)(k)
Illegal rucking of an opponent |
LE - 2
weeks
MR - 6 weeks
TE - 3 months |
6
months |
|
10(4)(k)
Using threatening words or actions towards match
officials |
LE - 3
months
MR - 12 months
TE - 24 months |
36
months |
|
10(4)(k)
Physically abusing of match officials |
LE - 6
months
MR - 24 months
TE - 5 years Life |
Life
|
|
10(4)(k)
Verbal abuse of opponents whether based on race, creed, colour or
otherwise |
LE - 2
weeks
MR - 2 months
TE - 4 months |
6
months |
|
10(4)(k)
Spitting at players |
LE - 1
month
MR - 3 months
TE - 6 months |
6
months |
|
10(4)(k) 2
yellow cards - based on taking the more serious
offence |
LE -
SOS
TE - the lower end of the range
for the more serious of the
yellow card offences |
|
|
10(4)(k)
Totting up of 3 foul play yellow cards within season - applies only to
Levels 1-4 |
LE - 1 week
TE - the lower end of the range
for the more serious of the
yellow card offences |
|
|
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