Michael Cheika has been banned from Leicester’s match against Newcastle on Saturday after he was found guilty of disrespecting the independent match-day doctor during his first match in charge of the Tigers. Cheika was handed a two-week suspension, one of which is suspended, after a Rugby Football Union disciplinary hearing that finished late on Tuesday.
The Australian had been charged with conduct prejudicial to the interests of the game and while the disciplinary panel admitted it was “an unusual case”, it said the “decisions of the independent match-day doctor must be respected”.
The incident took place after Leicester’s narrow victory over Exeter at Sandy Park on 21 September. During the match, Leicester’s Ollie Chessum and Solomone Kata collided when attempting to tackle Exeter’s Immanuel Feyi-Waboso. Chessum was removed for a head injury assessment and was subject to “immediate player removal”. The England forward was then stood down for 12 days, in line with protocols, and missed Leicester’s defeat by Bath last Sunday.
Kata was not removed for an HIA despite showing “obvious concussion symptoms”. Soon after he was shown a red card for a dangerous tackle on Jack Yeandle, raising questions as to whether he should have still been on the pitch. He was banned for four matches and the Bath defeat was not included as he was deemed unavailable due to his head injury.
Richard Whittam KC, chair of the independent disciplinary panel, said: “The panel found that Michael Cheika disrespected the independent match-day doctor in challenging the decision he had made that a player was subject to an IPR [Immediate Permanent Removal].
“Although it was an unusual case because there was a lack of clarity about the decisions made about the head injuries, the decisions of the independent matchday doctor must be respected. In this particular case, the appropriate sanction was one of two weeks. The panel mitigated this by suspending one week until the end of the season.”
Leicester, for their part, are deeply frustrated with the process and intend to seek clarification before deciding whether they will appeal against the decision once provided with the pull written judgment by the RFU. Leicester’s executive chairman, Peter Tom, said in a statement: “Leicester Tigers welcome the panel’s finding that head coach Michael Cheika was not intimidating or abusive towards the match day doctor following the recent game with Exeter Chiefs, however the club would nevertheless like to express its dissatisfaction with the finding that Michael Cheika was disrespectful.
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“Whilst the panel have yet to provide reasons for its decision, the club is particularly disappointed with the disrespectful finding given that multiple witnesses gave evidence at the disciplinary hearing supporting Michael’s version of events.
“The club is also disappointed that despite its request not to do so, the RFU issued a statement announcing the panel’s decision despite the club having not yet been provided with the written judgment and knowing the exact reasons for the decision. Leicester Tigers would like to place on record that it would never question the World Rugby HIA process, when correctly implemented, and is rigorously committed to the safety, wellbeing and health of our players.”