Harlequins escape Heineken Cup expulsion
Harlequins have escaped expulsion from the Heineken Cup
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By Will Haine. |  |
Wednesday, 02, Sep 2009 05:10
By Alistair Potter
Harlequins have been told they are free to participate in this year's Heineken Cup tournament without penalty by the European Rugby Cup (ERC) board.
At a board meeting today, ERC said it "acknowledges and fully accepts" the decisions of the independent appeals committee that presided over the hearings of winger Tom Williams, former director of rugby Dean Richards and ex-club physio Steph Brennan.
And despite earlier reserving the right to impose further sanctions on the club, the ERC board said that the "robust nature of the independent disciplinary system. provided a fair and professional disciplinary process for all parties involved".
"The board acknowledged and fully accepted the decisions and sanctions of the independent appeal committee, which found the club, Tom Williams, Dean Richards and Steph Brennan all guilty of misconduct,"
"As a consequence of the decisions reached by the independent appeal committee and the significant sanction imposed on the club (a 300,000 euro fine), the board saw no reason to interfere with the participation of Harlequins in the 2009/10 Heineken Cup."
Later in the statement, the board did "express its concern" about a number of issues raised in the appeal process - namely the attempted cover up of the use of fake blood, which it said was "orchestrated" by Richards.
A separate board meeting has since been reconvened for next Tuesday - September 8th - while in the interim period further related misconduct complaints could be investigated, the statement added.
As a result of the appeal, Brennan found himself suspended from performing the role of a physiotherapist in rugby union for two years while Richards has been banned from all coaching for three years.
Williams saw his year-long suspension cut to four months on appeal.