RFU COMPETITIONS APPEAL
IPSWICH RFC v LONDON & SE DIVISIONAL ORGANISING COMMITTEE
Held: Holiday Inn, Bloomsbury
On: 10th December 2007
Attending: Kevin Howard – Honorary Treasurer (Ipswich RFC)
Richie Goodall – Chairman (Ipswich RFC)
Mark Greetham – Honorary Secretary (Ipswich RFC)
Mike Ward – Divisional Secretary (London & SE)
Bob Morrison - Registrar (London & SE)
John Vale - Observing
Secretary: Liam McTiernan
1. This is an appeal by Ipswich RFC (the Club) against a decision of the London and SE League Divisional Organising Committee (the DOC) to uphold the London Division 3NE League Secretary’s decision to deduct two championship points from the Club for playing an unregistered player in a league match against Harlow on 8th September 2007.
The Facts
2. Travis Kenny joined the Club at the beginning of the 2007/08 season and signed a player registration form on 28th August 2007. The forms relating to him were sent to First Eleven Sport, the agent for the Registrar, who received them on 3rd September. The Club submitted forms in relation to six other players who were all registered before the league match on 8th September, but the forms relating to Kenny were returned to the Club on 4th or 5th September. The Club stated that they did not receive those forms back until 12th September. The Registrar indicated that the forms were returned because he did not receive a notice of transfer from Wellingborough RFC (Kenny’s former club), although the Club averred that a notice had been included with the papers. As a result, Kenny was not registered but he played nevertheless on 8th September. He was subsequently registered correctly in time for the following match on 15th September.
3. The League Secretary considered the matter and decided that the Club were in breach of Registration of Players Regulation 2.1 (RFU Handbook page 303), in that Kenny played for the Club without effective registration. He ordered that two championship points be deducted in accordance with the recommended sanctions in the Sanctions Guidelines (RFU Handbook page 258). The Club appealed and the DOC rejected the appeal on 30th October 2007.
Submissions on Behalf of the Club
4. The Club accepted that they were in breach of Regulation 2.1 in playing an unregistered player and that the appropriate penalty for such a breach was two championship points. They admitted that they had made a mistake. However, they submitted that had the proper checks and balances been in place then the lack of registration would have been highlighted and they would not have played Kenny. Having not received any notification of registration by 5th September they attempted to contact First Eleven by telephone, leaving up to nine messages on an answer machine, but they did not receive any reply. They attempted to access the RFU Website to establish whether Kenny was registered, but the password they had been provided with did not allow access. They asked the Registrar for a fax or e-mail copy of the list of registered players, but he said he was precluded by the Regulations from sending a list in that form. They said that despite their best efforts they were unable to get hold of a definitive list of registered players so they took the risk on all by playing all seven players (including Kenny) who they had attempted to register during the preceding week. They said that had they not taken that risk they would not have been able to field a team. They did not contact the league secretary for confirmation because they believed that all registration matters had to be directed to the Registrar. In summary, the Club submitted that they acted in good faith and pursued vigorously all reasonable steps to obtain relevant information to ensure a player did not play without effective registration. As an amateur club they could not have been expected to have done more. However, they were frustrated in their efforts because the RFU website was inaccessible and the Registrar refused to supply a copy of the computerised listing. In all the circumstances they submitted that the deduction of two championship points was unjust.
Submissions on Behalf of the DOC
5. The DOC stated that Registration of Players Regulation 7.2 clearly states that there must be 7 clear days from the Registration Date for any player seeking to be registered with a Club. Thus, whatever the circumstances of this case, the Club could not have achieved effective registration for Kenny until 10th September – after the date of the relevant match. The Club could, in any event, have applied for expedited registration under Regulation 13 up until 3:00pm on Thursday 6th September – indeed they had applied for expedited registration in relation to other players. The DOC accepted that the Registrar refused a request to provide a computerised list by fax or e-mail, but asserted that he was precluded from doing so by the Regulations. Finally, the Club could and should have contacted the League Secretary (who was easily available) by telephone to check the definitive list of registered players.
Decision
6. Registration of Players Regulation 5 states that “the only and conclusive evidence admissible of a Player’s Effective Registration with a Club on any particular date is the Computerised Listing of the Players holding Effective Registration.” The Club, therefore, erred in not establishing whether Kenny was contained on that Listing. Although they took a number of steps during the week to ascertain whether Kenny appeared on that Listing, they could very easily have contacted the League Secretary when they found they were unable to access the RFU Website. Notwithstanding this error, it is clear from Regulation 7.2 that Kenny would never have been registered in time to play on 8th September because the required 7 clear days would not have expired until 10th September. The Club also erred in assuming that the 7 clear days started on the date when they posted the Registration forms rather than on the date of receipt. While we have some sympathy with the Club in that they did not set out to cheat and they did make strenuous efforts to ascertain the true position, the Regulations do not allow any other conclusion than the one reached by the League Secretary and the DOC. While the deduction of two championship points may appear harsh in these circumstances, particularly where the breach was effectively an administrative error, it is consistent with current practice.
7. We therefore reject the appeal and order that the decision to deduct two championship points be upheld.
Comment
8. There were clearly some teething problems with registration at the beginning of the season, particularly in relation to access to the Website. Those problems appear to have been resolved. We make no criticism of the Registrar for his refusal to provide the Computerised Listing by fax or e mail – at the beginning of the season the Registrar would have been extremely busy and no doubt fielding numerous questions from many clubs, and it was appropriate that he should rigidly apply the Regulations to ensure consistency. Nevertheless, the Competitions sub-committee might wish to consider whether communication by fax or e-mail should be permitted.
Signed: HHJ Jeff Blackett (Chairman)
Dated: 11th December 2007 |
