Julien Candelon decision

The complaint made by the Citing Commissioner, Ray Wilton (Wales), was that Candelon carried out a dangerous tackle on the Northampton Saints scrum half Lee Dickson in the first half of the game.

The player, who pleaded guilty, was represented by Pierre Becque of Perpignan, and was suspended by the club last weekend and did not play in their Top 14 match.

After considering the evidence, the independent Judicial Officer, Mark McParland (Ireland), determined that Candelon was guilty of carrying out a dangerous tackle on Dickson in contravention of Law 10.4 (e).

The independent Judicial Officer found that the offence was in the mid range of the level of seriousness for an offence of this type. Having taken into account any mitigating and aggravating factors, including Candelon's admittance of guilt, the independent Judicial Officer suspended the player for a period of six (6) weeks running up to and including Sunday, 12 June, 2011, with the start of the suspension backdated to reflect the club's internal suspension.

Both parties have the right to appeal.

Under the IRB Recommended Sanctions for Offences Committed within the Playing Enclosure, Law 10.4 (e) carries the following penalties:
Low End: 2 weeks
Mid Range: 6 weeks
Top End: 10 to 52 weeks.
For a full list of IRB Recommended Sanctions please refer to ercrugby.com by following this link:
http://www.ercrugby.com/images/content/cupstandard/IRB_Sanctions.pdf

NOTES
i) Citing Commissioner
a) Citing Commissioners are 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. In exceptional circumstances this deadline can be extended.
d) The ERC Disciplinary Officer, Roger O'Connor 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 3 business days 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/disciplinenewswhen the disciplinary process is complete