Queensland Reds’ rugby star, Digby Ioane, to face judiciary hearing for publicly criticising the referee
Queensland Reds’ player Digby Ioane finds himself in hot water after criticising a match referee openly.
Digby Ioane blamed the New Zealander referee, Keith Brown .behind their narrow margined defeat by the Hurricanes. The Reds were defeated by the Hurricanes, 28-26, last Saturday in a Super Rugby clash.
The defeat has demoted the Reds from second to third position on the overall point’s table of the current Super Rugby championship.
Earlier, the Reds were on second position on the table with eight victories in nine outgoings. However, the Reds are still topping the tables among domestic Australian derbies.
On the other hand, it was hard for them to digest a bitter defeat by a weaker opposition. The Hurricanes had won just two games in nine outgoings before their controversial win against the Reds.
Ioane expressed his deep outrage towards the match official on twitter as he wrote, “the worst ref ever”.
His statement was taken in to serious considerations by the SANZAR and he was asked to appear before a judicial panel. He will appear before the judicial panel by tomorrow which may fine him up to $5000.
The star player was sidelined by the referee during the second part of the game that proved devastating for the Reds. Keith Brown awarded the Hurricanes with a late penalty that turned the game against the Reds in the ending moments.
Although the Queensland Reds’ player took off his tweet immediately after the cautions, SANZAR was not happy with his steps.
The operation manager of SANZA Brendan Morris issued a legal notice to Queensland Reds Rugby Union regarding the matter. Brendan was of the view that the player breached SANZAR’s code of conduct which cannot be ignored.
Reds’ coach, Ewen McKenzie, defended his player and said that there was no malice remarks involved in Ioane’s tweet. The coach further said that the issue should have been buried after he took down the statement.
Digby Ioane will appear before the SANZAR judicial panel tomorrow to be chaired by Nigel Hampton.
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