Over a month after the scandal first broke, Mitchell Pearce‘s uppance has finally come, with the NRL and the Sydney Roosters agreeing to terms on a mammoth fine and a lengthy suspension for the halfback.
The NRL‘s Integrity Unit, coupled with the Roosters, today handed Pearce an 8-week suspension, and a $125,000 fine, on charges stemming from the infamous leak of an Australia Day video showing a highly intoxicated Pearce simulating a sex act with a dog, and (HEY! ALSO THIS BIT TOO DO NOT FORGET IT) forcing a kiss on a woman who had firmly told him “no.”
It’s understood that $50,000 of the fine will be suspended.
Pearce will not be eligible to play for the Roosters until their Round 9 clash against the Newcastle Knights on April 30th. He only recently returned from a stint in a Thai rehab facility, where he was seeking treatment for alcohol abuse.
The Roosters ran a fluff PR-campaign upon Pearce’s return in an attempt to paint him in a sympathetic light – a move which reportedly infuriated the NRL Integrity Unit, who were initially pushing for a 12-week ban.
48 hours of negotiations between the League and the Roosters subsequently reduced Pearce’s ban down to the 8-match sentence, with the large fine also agreed upon.
Pearce has been officially stripped of the Roosters’ co-captaincy, and suspended from the team’s leadership group. He will resume training with the club this coming Monday.
The Roosters’ 2016 season opener against the South Sydney Rabbitohs is scheduled for this coming Sunday afternoon.
The fine and suspension, it should be noted, is far heavier than any punishment the NRL or any NRL club has ever handed down to any player involved in domestic assault. Make of that what you will.
Source: The Daily Telegraph.
Photo: Mark Metcalfe/Getty.
