APPENDIX 7
CITING PROCEDURES

General (other than in Premiership 1st XV games)

1.    A citing complaint can only be made by:

a) Unions or Clubs participating in the relevant match; or
b) an accredited Referee Assessor/Advisor who has been officially appointed to attend the match by the RFU, a Referee Society, or by the Federation of Referee Societies.

2.     Where a player is alleged to have committed an act of foul play but has not been Sent off for that act, then the organisations listed above shall have the discretion to cite that player to show cause why he should not be held accountable in the same way as a player who has been Sent off (“the red card test”).
3.     The citing must be in writing, stating:

a) the date, venue and teams participating in the match;
b) details of the alleged act of foul play, including as accurately as possible the point of time in the match, score at the time and position on the field when and where the incident is alleged to have occurred; and
c) the identity of (or means of identifying) the player or players alleged to be guilty of foul play.

4. The citing must be:

a) signed by the President, Chairman, Secretary or nominated person acting on behalf of the Union or Affiliated Organisation or by the accredited Referee Assessor/Advisor seeking to cite;
b) addressed to the Secretary of the Constituent Body to which the player's Club is allocated, or to the RFU Disciplinary Manager as appropriate. In cases of doubt the citing should be addressed to the RFU Disciplinary Manager;
c) accompanied by any video evidence that the complainant intends to adduce in support of the citing; and
d) received by the Constituent Body or RFU Disciplinary Manager (as may be appropriate) not later than the first post on the 14th day immediately following the match in which the incident giving rise to the citing occurred.

4.1.   A citing by e-mail or by fax is acceptable provided that the hard copy follows by post and is received within seven days of the e-mail or fax.
4.2.   All evidence supporting the citing must be received by the Constituent Body or the RFU Disciplinary Manager within 14 days of the match concerned. 
4.3.   A citing, once made, may not be withdrawn without the express permission of the RFU Disciplinary Officer.
4.4.   Save in the cases of a citing by an accredited Referee Assessor/Advisor the citing must be accompanied by a remittance as outlined in Appendix 6 to these Regulations as a contribution towards administrative expenses.
4.5.   Upon receiving a written citing (whether direct or through the RFU), the Secretary of the Constituent Body or of the Constituent Body Disciplinary Panel or the RFU Disciplinary Manager shall consult the Match Officials (which in this context shall mean the Referee and any Touch Judges officially appointed and not appointed by the participating Club) to ascertain whether they or any of them detected the act which was alleged to constitute foul play and which is the subject of citing.
4.6.    A citing may be made whether or not the alleged act of foul play was seen by a Match Official.  Where a Match Official did not detect the act of foul play cited, then it must be shown that had the Match Official seen the act, a red card would have been awarded. However, where a Match Official, having detected the alleged act, decided that it was either not foul play, or that it was, but he took action other than sending off, the citing Club must prove, on the balance of probabilities, that the Match Official was wrong.
4.7.    Where a Club makes a citing, the Chairman of a Constituent Body Disciplinary Panel shall consider the complaint and unless he considers the complaint to be frivolous or vexatious, the Cited Player shall be advised in writing of the allegations made against him in the citing.
4.8.    If the Chairman of the Disciplinary Panel considers the complaint to be frivolous or vexatious he shall so advise person or organisation who made the citing complaint and who, if aggrieved, may refer the matter to the RFU Disciplinary Officer for further consideration.  His decision shall be final and given within four days of the reference. Any such reference to the RFU Disciplinary Officer shall be in writing and received by him or by the RFU Disciplinary Manager within seven days of the Union or affiliated organisation being informed that the complaint is considered frivolous or vexatious.
4.9.    Where the player having been advised of the allegations made against him admits those allegations, the player may invite the Disciplinary Panel to deal with the complaint in his absence under the provisions of paragraph 5.2 of these Regulations, failing which the Disciplinary Panel shall hear the matter following the procedure set out below.
4.10.   The Constituent Body Disciplinary Panel or the RFU Disciplinary Manager shall convene a hearing following the procedure set out below.
4.11.   A Cited Player is presumed innocent until proved guilty. He may continue to play pending the hearing of the complaint unless he has been suspended under these Regulations, whether or not he admits the allegations of foul play.
4.12.   Where the foul play is not admitted by the player, it is the responsibility of the person or organisation who made the citing complaint to prove on the balance of probabilities that the offence took place as cited.
 
Premiership Clubs

1. These procedures apply only to Clubs in the Premiership, and then only when participating in the Guinness Premiership, the Guinness Championship, and in matches in the National Knock-Out Cup Competition when playing another Premiership Club (“National Competitions”).  Separate disciplinary procedures will apply to those matches played in the Heineken Cup, the European Shield and Anglo Welsh League.
2.     The RFU Disciplinary Manager shall:
2.1.  make arrangements for a video recording to be taken, to a common standard, and independently from any video which may be commissioned by the participating Clubs, of each match to which these procedures relate (“independent video”).
2.2.  make arrangements whereby all independent videos are received by the RFU Discipline Department at Twickenham by not later than forty eight hours after the conclusion of each match. 
2.3.  appoint a suitable number of Citing Officers, who shall be experienced in the playing and/or Refereeing of top level Rugby Union Football, and shall be well versed in the Laws of the Game and their application.
3.     Forthwith upon receipt of an independent video, the RFU Disciplinary Manager shall forward it to a Premiership Citing Officer who is not affiliated to or connected in any way with either of the Clubs which participated in the match the subject of that independent video.
4.     A Club participating in a match to which these provisions apply may within forty eight hours of the conclusion of that match notify the RFU Disciplinary Manager of any incidents which they wish the Premiership Citing Officer to consider and the RFU Disciplinary Manager will immediately notify the Premiership Citing Officer of that Club’s concerns.
5.     A Premiership Citing Officer alone shall have the power and responsibility to cite a player whom the independent video shows to have committed an act of foul play whether or not it has been detected by the Match Officials.   Such citing, to be effective, must be made in writing to be received by the RFU Disciplinary Manager at Twickenham from the Independent Premiership Citing Officer within four working days of the conclusion of the match.   Transmission of the citing report may be by fax or email, provided that a print is posted by first class post within twenty four hours of the fax or email being sent.     
6.     Before bringing a citing complaint the Premiership Citing Officer must be satisfied that in his opinion the act of foul play merited the award of a Red Card (the “Red Card Test”).  That is, he is satisfied that had the act been detected by Match Officials the Referee would have sent off the offending player, or, if the act was detected and the player was not sent off then the Referee was wrong in not awarding a Red Card.  The citing complaint shall contain the following information:

a. the date and place of the alleged illegal and/or foul play;
b. the name of the player in respect of whom the complaint is made and the team he was playing for at the time of the alleged illegal and/or foul play;
c. the name of the opposing team;
d. full details of the alleged illegal and/or foul play including brief details of the evidence relied on; and
e. confirmation that the act was not detected by Match Officials or if it was and a red card was not awarded, an explanation as to why the Premiership Citing Officer considered the Referee to be wrong.

7.     If the Premiership Citing Officer assesses that a player committed an act of foul play which did not satisfy the Red Card Test but that the incident should be brought to his attention he may issue a written warning (known as a “Level 1 citing”).  In these circumstances the RFU Disciplinary Manager shall communicate to the club and player by way of a letter or email, indicating that the act was detected, stating that no further action is intended on this occasion but warning the player as to his future conduct.  Such a written warning will be recorded on the Club register and may be taken into consideration in future disciplinary proceedings.  It will remain on a player’s record for 5 years and be treated as though it were a Yellow Card for the purposes of totting up during the relevant season.  
8.     Upon receipt of a citing report from a Premiership Citing Officer the RFU Disciplinary Manager shall forward to the Cited Player, through his Club, a charge sheet, a copy of the citing complaint and a copy of the independent video of the match containing the incident which has been cited.  The offending player’s Club should be informed of the citing complaint within 24 hours of the decision by the Premiership Citing Officer to make a citing complaint.   Thereafter, the RFU Disciplinary Manager shall make arrangements in accordance with the RFU Disciplinary Regulations for the hearing of the citation by a National Disciplinary Committee.  
9.     Any hearing arising from a citing complaint from a Premiership Citing Officer, and any Appeal from such a hearing, shall be conducted in accordance with the RFU Disciplinary Regulations.   Where reasonably possible, the Premiership Citing Officer shall appear at a hearing in order to substantiate his citing complaint, but should this not be possible, his evidence may be given by telephone during the hearing, provided that the Panel, the player and his representative can hear the evidence and any questions and answers upon it.   Additionally, or in the alternative, the RFU Secretary and Legal Officer may appoint an advocate to explain the citing complaint, and the illegal and/or foul play of which complaint is made, to the Panel.   
 
Schools and Youth citing

1.     Citing occurs where a player allegedly commits an act of foul play which has not been detected or punished by the Match Official(s) when either the aggrieved player, his/her parents or representatives, or his/her School or Club cites that player to show cause why he/she should not be held accountable in the same way as a player who has been sent off. A citing may also be made by a Referee advisor or Referee assessor officially appointed to attend the match.
2.     The citing should normally be:

a) in writing;
b) signed by the aggrieved player’s head teacher/Club secretary (or, if the relevant person is not willing to support the procedure, by the aggrieved player’s parent or guardian); and
c) sent either to the head teacher of the player’s school, the secretary of the player’s Club, or to a Constituent Body, the ERSU or RFU within 14 days of the match, with a copy to the CSUDS/CBYDS.

3.     Citings received out of time may still be permitted by the National Schools & Youth Disciplinary Secretary if he or she decides that in the interests of rugby or in the interests of justice there is a prima facie case to answer.
4.     For the purposes of these regulations, a game in a school or Club youth sevens or tens tournament is regarded as a school or Club youth match.
5.     In the event of a District, County, CB or Divisional match, it would normally be signed by the Chairman of the CSU/CBRDP, or a Divisional Officer, and sent to the CBSYDS to which the cited player belongs, but if the Chairman of the CSU/CBRDP, or a Divisional Officer, is not willing to support this procedure the player, or his parents/guardian, may initiate the citing procedure.
6.     In the event of an International match, it would normally be signed by the Manager of the International team and sent to the Disciplinary Officer of the Rugby Union to which the cited player belongs, but if the Manager of the International team is not willing to support this procedure the player, or his parents/guardian, may initiate the citing procedure. The citing should be sent to the cited player’s Home Union or to the National Schools & Youth Disciplinary Secretary if he plays for an England team.
7.     In the event of an International Festival/Tournament, the Disciplinary Regulations pertaining to that event shall be followed.
8.     A player who is cited must be given the opportunity to admit or deny the allegation.
9.     If he or she admits the allegation, he or she will be dealt with as if he or she had been sent off.
10.    If he or she denies the offence, then unless the head teacher, Club Disciplinary Panel or Union consider it vexatious, then it will be handled as a contested hearing. The onus shall be on the complainant to prove the case.
11.    A player who is cited is presumed innocent until proven guilty and may continue to play until the hearing.
12.    If the chairman of the Disciplinary Panel considers the citing to be frivolous or vexatious, he shall advise the complainant of that decision. The complainant may refer the matter in writing within 7 days of such notification to the National Schools & Youth Disciplinary Secretary (or to the RFU Disciplinary Secretary if the incident occurred in an International match) whose decision shall be final.
13.    For Representative Rugby at District, County, CB and Division level a player who is Cited will be disciplined by his CBRDP in consultation with the CBYSDS. A Disciplinary Panel to hear this will be set up as above.
14.    If a player is Cited in an International match: At U16 the ERFSU will set up a Panel; At U17 or U18 the RFU Discipline Secretary will be responsible for convening a Panel, recruiting persons with the appropriate expertise.