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Kings in hot water?
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) has said that there is an investigation into a suspected breach of SARU’s Super Rugby participation agreement by the Southern Kings.
CEO of SARU Jurie Roux has been in contact in Cheeky Watson (pictured above), the chairman of the Kings board, to discuss the investigation and warn him of any other breaches that could happen.
The issue has emerged from the Kings match against the Chiefs, which took place on 15 March 2013. The Kings fielded three foreign players – Argentines Tomás Leonardi and Nicolas Vergallo, while New Zealander Hadleigh Parkes was also on the field at the same time.
SARU’s rules allow for two foreign players to be present on the field at any given time, but not three.
The Executive Council (Exco) of SARU, in accordance with the SARU Disciplinary and Judicial Regulations, decided to appoint a judicial sub-committee to investigate the allegation.
If the Kings are to be found guilty of a breach, there are different penalties which could be faced, such as a maximum fine of R1 million, or a recommendation to the General Council to suspend or expel the offending organisation.
According to Sport24, Watson claims that there has been a misunderstanding between which players are and are not allowed to be used.
“We closely followed the media reports and I just want to state that we have not received any official announcement or request from SARU regarding the matter.
“We can only respond once we get that. In the meantime I just want to make it clear that we are a disciplined member of SARU and we will remain exactly that.
“We are not deliberately trying to go against them, but we do feel that the interpretation of the term ‘foreign players’ is open for debate,” said Watson.
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James N-Y
March 20, 2013 at 10:15
“We are not deliberately trying to go against them, but we do feel that the interpretation of the term ‘foreign players’ is open for debate,” ???? How is it up for debate? Maybe SARU needs to look at the EPL with the home grown players rule/players playing in the country for 3 years or more (then they become considered as “home grown”)…
Jeremy Proome
March 20, 2013 at 10:21
I
question how this could only come to light now – surely the
three-foreign-players-on-the-field rule should have been known far in
advance? Maybe some behind-the-scenes shenanigans. I think the rules for what is considered “foreign” do need to be defined! Super Rugby is growing and its inevitable that more players from other nations will join, so we need to lay down what’s allowed and what isn’t.
James N-Y
March 20, 2013 at 13:37
I agree, he’s claiming that they have played in the 4 Nations (which is meaningless). They do need to set boundaries for foreign players but i think 3 foreign players is very unrealistic. The kings are in a tough position because the press is always going to be hyper critical of their mistakes.