Top 14: Tincu’s ban upheld
by LNR; Toulon target Wallaby flanker Smith
11 December
2008
Marius
Tincu’s 18-week ban has been officially extended by the
Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) to include Top 14 matches.
Perpignan’s Romanian hooker was originally slapped with the
lengthy ban by ERC – which oversees European club
competitions – after an alleged eye-gouging incident on
October 10 against the Ospreys prop Paul James in the
Heineken Cup.
The
French club defended its player and said it was outraged by
the length of the ban, even threatening to withdraw from the
competition when it was first handed down. It subsequently
lost an appeal to the ERC and had been pinning its hopes on
the LNR ruling in Tincu’s favour.
But
following a two-hour presentation last week the LNR’s
disciplinary committee has ratified the ban, saying it was
left with no other option due to the current statutes
governing the game.
It
explained that under Article 17 of the regulations of the
International Rugby Board (IRB) national federations are
obliged to apply the sanctions in domestic competitions.
A
spokesman confirmed: “The LNR notes that the disciplinary
committee could not, given the regulations of the IRB and
the ERC on non-dissociation of sanctions, retry the case on
the merits, despite the circumstances of the case.”
A kind of ‘Sorry, but our hands are tied’
response.
Perpignan are now likely to take up their case with the
National Olympic Committee of French Sport (CNOSF), even
though it has no jurisdiction over the penalty originally
imposed by ERC.
A club
lawyer confirmed it hoped to make a presentation to the
CNOSF before Christmas and that the Catalans also planned to
initiate civil proceedings on the grounds that the
“irregular sanction” is preventing Tincu from working.
But,
despite the ongoing appeals and pending legal process, Tincu
will remain sidelined until his 18-week ban expires on March
10.
Meanwhile, the latest star player linked to Toulon is
Australia flanker George Smith, according to reports in
French sports paper L’Equipe.
It
claimed that Smith, 28, was due to meet Toulon president
Mourad Boudjellal on Wednesday evening with a view to
signing the Wallaby for the 2009 season.
Smith,
capped 96 times by Australia, is also reportedly attracting
the attention of fellow Top 14 clubs Brive and Clermont.
Stade
Francais winger Julien Arias has
been ruled out for two months following confirmation of a
fractured vertebra.
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