David Attoub Decision

The citing lodged by the Citing Commissioner for the match, Tony Lanaway (England), was for alleged contact with the eye / eye area of Ulster Rugby player Stephen Ferris (No 6) in contravention of Law 10.4 (l).

At the initial independent Disciplinary Hearing in Dublin on Friday, 18 December, 2009, the independent Judicial Officer, HH Judge Jeff Blackett (England), had determined that further evidence needed to be considered and adjourned the hearing. The independent Judicial Officer had imposed an immediate interim suspension on the player pending the outcome of the reconvened hearing.

At the reconvened hearing, the independent Judicial Officer heard evidence from Mr Attoub and Mr Ferris as well as expert evidence on behalf of Mr Attoub. Following submissions on behalf of Mr Attoub and ERC, the independent Judicial Officer adjourned the hearing and retired to consider the evidence.

Today (Friday, 15 January, 2010) the independent Judicial Officer found that an act of foul play had occurred in that Mr Attoub had made contact with the eye / eye area of Ulster Rugby player Stephen Ferris (No 6) in contravention of Law 10.4 (l).

The question of sanction will be dealt with at a later date.

Under the IRB Recommended Sanctions for Offences Committed within the Playing Enclosure, contact with the eyes / eye area carries the following penalties:

Lower End: 12 weeks
Middle Range: 18 weeks
Top End: 24 weeks+
Maximum Sanction: 156 weeks

For a full list of IRB Recommended Sanctions please refer to ercrugby.com by pressing the following link:

http://www.ercrugby.com/images/content/cupstandard/IRB_Sanctions.pdf

NOTES:

i) Citing Commissioner
a) Citing Commissioners will be appointed by ERC for all Heineken Cup and all televised Amlin Challenge Cup matches and shall be entitled to cite a Player for any act or acts of Foul Play that in the Citing Commissioner's opinion warranted a citing.
b) For such matches Clubs will not have the power to cite a player but may refer incidents to the Citing Commissioner within 24 hours of the conclusion of the match.
c) The Citing Commissioner will have 50 hours from the start of the game to make a citing and the determination of the Citing Commissioner will be final and binding. In exceptional circumstances this deadline can be extended.
d) The Disciplinary Officer may forward the submitted Citing to a Citing Officer to determine whether there are sufficient grounds for the citing to progress.
e) The Disciplinary Officer will then bring a charge against the cited player.

(ii) Independent Disciplinary Hearing
a) Citing hearings will be heard by an independent Judicial Officer as soon as is practicable. Until the hearing a cited player is eligible to play in ERC tournaments
b) The independent Judicial Officer is chosen by the Chairman of the independent Disciplinary Panel, Professor Lorne Crerar.
c) The ERC Disciplinary Officer, Roger O'Connor, presents the case against the player
d) Both parties to the hearing (ERC and the player) have the right to appeal decisions of the independent Disciplinary Hearing. Appeals must be lodged within 72 hours of receiving the full written decision from the Chairman of the independent Disciplinary Committee
e) The full written decision of the independent Judicial Officer will be available on www.ercrugby.com/disciplinenews when the disciplinary process is complete.
ENDS