Friday, November 11, 2011

Mike Tindall removed from England elite squad and fined by RFU

Mike Tindall has been fined £25,000 by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and removed from England's elite player squad for his World Cup conduct.

Mike Tindall removed from England elite squad and fined by RFU

The former England captain attracted negative headlines after a night out in Queenstown on 11 September.

"[His] actions [were] unacceptable and amounted to a very serious breach," said RFU rugby director Rob Andrew.



Chris Ashton and James Haskell received suspended fines for a separate incident, with Dylan Hartley cleared.

While Ashton and Haskell - both given suspended £5,000 fines and warned as to their future conduct after making inappropriate comments to a female hotel worker - are free to continue their England careers, centre Tindall, at the age of 33, now appears unlikely to add to his 75 caps.

"These actions have not been taken lightly but we believe that, in all these cases, the sanctions are commensurate with the level of seriousness of what occurred," added Andrew.
"Whilst we acknowledge [Tindall's] previous good character it needs to be made clear that what he did will not be tolerated."

Tindall, married to the Queen's eldest granddaughter Zara Phillips, was defended by manager Martin Johnson following the night out but the player later had to admit to misleading team management about events from the evening.

During a troubled campaign that ended with a quarter-final defeat by France there were also claims that winger Ashton, hooker Hartley and back-row forward Haskell had made offensive comments to hotel worker Annabel Newton.

"Regarding the events in Dunedin, it should be stressed that the allegations of very serious wrong-doing made against Chris Ashton, Dylan Hartley and James Haskell by Annabel Newton, a member of staff at the team hotel, were entirely false," said Andrew.

"We do not believe the players had any intention to sexually harass or intimidate Ms Newton. However, the incident is precisely the kind of dangerous, compromising situation the players were warned about prior to departure for New Zealand and that they were specifically told to avoid in the EPS [England Player Squad] code of conduct.

"While we found that Dylan Hartley played no part in the ill-considered exchange with Annabel Newton, Chris Ashton and James Haskell's behaviour did breach the EPS code of conduct.
"Finally, these episodes and the subsequent disciplinary action should stand as a strong reminder that the highest standards of personal conduct are expected from any England player on and off the field."

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