The NRL has now fined St George Illawarra Dragons players $305,000 and issued match suspensions after a number of players attended a party at Paul Vaughan‘s home on the weekend (during the Greater Sydney lockdown).
On Sunday, it was reported that up to 12 players were being investigated by NSW Police after breaching the state’s strict stay-at-home orders. All 12 players and Vaughan have now been ordered to pay $1000 fines each, as well as being slapped with sanctions, according to the ABC.
“It’s alleged a number of players hid or fled the residence when NSW Police attended the home after complaints from neighbours,” the NRL said in a statement.
“It’s also alleged that a number of players gave or were involved in giving misleading information about the event during the NRL’s investigation into the breaches and that some of the players conspired to withhold key information.”
Proposed sanctions for the players include one-match suspensions and fines ranging from $2000 to $42,000. As for Vaughan, the breach notice issued to him by the NRL proposes an eight-match suspension and a fine of $50,000.
According to FOX Sports, Paul Vaughan was stood down last year for 14 days after breaching the COVID-19 restrictions put in place for NRL players. He was issued a $10,000 fine at the time for attending an Illawarra café, when that was against the rules at the time.
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said these punishments were intended to make an example of players breaching COVID-19 protocol.
“This sort of conduct will not be tolerated,” Abdo said.
“There are many people working incredibly hard to keep the competition going — it’s a privilege to play football, not a right.
“I want to stress that there are almost 900 players and officials following strict biosecurity measures and the overwhelming number are doing the right thing, as they did last year.”
