Swansea handed euro fine
November 6, 2002

Swansea were on Wednesday fined £2,000 and handed a suspended two-point deduction for "negligently" fielding two ineligible players in the Heineken Cup.

The All Whites were brought to book by an independent committee in Dublin, convened over a charge of misconduct brought by the European Rugby Cup disciplinary officer.

Swansea erroneously fielded Gavin Henson and Dean Thomas in their Heineken Cup match against Montferrand on October 12 - after both had been red-carded in a Celtic League fixture with Llanelli the previous week.

The misunderstanding arose because the Welsh Rugby Union had heard disciplinary cases against the two players. Swansea, in ignorance of Heineken Cup rules, therefore wrongly thought the two men were free to play.

Swansea admitted the offence - and the ERC committee accepted the default was unintentional as a result of negligence, rather a deliberate breach of the rules.

The two-point deduction against Swansea - who have yet to register a point in this year's European competition - will be suspended until after next year's final.

But if the club is convicted of any misconduct offence before then the deduction will kick in.

Swansea have also been ordered to pay the costs of the hearing.

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