Australian Rugby
Cooper set to face disciplinary panel
ESPN Staff
October 27, 2012
Australia's Quade Cooper issues some instruction, New Zealand v Australia, Rugby Championship, Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand, August 25, 2012
Wallabies playmaker Quade Cooper will miss his side's end of year tour with a knee injury © Getty Images
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Wallabies fly-half Quade Cooper will face an Australian Rugby Union (ARU) hearing on Wednesday to answer a charge of bringing the game into disrepute.

Cooper, who will miss Australia's forthcoming tour of Europe with a knee injury, hit the headlines last month by launching a stinging attack on the current Wallabies set-up on Twitter and in the media including a claim that the environment surrounding the national side was "toxic" and a suggestion he would no longer play even if selected due to his belief that the team was ''destroying him as a person and as a player''.

The ARU wrote to Cooper following his initial outburst and chief executive John O'Neill hit back at his claims after the 24-year-old went on to reiterate his grievances in a TV interview.

There has been no confirmation of any disciplinary action but local media reports suggest that Cooper will face a hearing in Sydney on Wednesday with O'Neill and ARU chairman and former Wallabies international Michael Hawker likely to decide his fate. An ARU spokesman told ABC on Saturday that no official comment would be made at this stage.

Speculation regarding Cooper's playing future continues with his current contract with the ARU due to expire on December 31. The Reds re-signed him in June to a new three-year deal but was reportedly dependent on a new top-up agreement with the ARU. It is also understood that the ARU tabled an offer to Cooper earlier this year that has since been withdrawn.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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