Disciplinary Regulations & Procedures
When a player receives a red card or two yellow cards in a match, the referee will submit a report by 5pm on the Monday following the match (or 5pm on the day two days after the match). A player who receives a red card is entitled to have a hearing (which are conducted by Zoom/Google Meets, or similar technology). A player is suspended from any further play until a hearing can be held, or a ruling is submitted. If your player has gotten a red card that they CANNOT play until you are able to secure a hearing and/or ruling with the discipline committee.
The player is provided 2 options for a hearing:
- A one person hearing with a trained Community Judicial Officer (CJO) that is scheduled with the offending player, the CJO, and interested parties such as club coach or club president
- A panel of 3 members from the disciplinary committee (DC), these hearings are held starting around 6:30 PM on Wednesdays and the offending player is encouraged to attend and may bring a representative if desired.
Prior to the hearing, the player is provided with a copy of the referee report and any other evidence that is being reviewed (e.g. video, additional statements). The player should provide any evidence they may wish to submit (including other video of the incident) at least an hour prior to the hearing.
Items for clubs to consider when preparing for the hearing include the standard sanctions which are applied to all levels of play by world rugby so they may understand potential sanctions for the red card. World Rugby Regulation 17 can be found at this link. This includes information on mitigating and aggravating factors that are considered by the committee. Unless determined by the CJO/DC otherwise, the entry point for consideration of most red cards issued is a mid-range offense.
The hearing is composed of 2 parts. The first is for the CJO/DC to determine if the incident was a red card offense. If it is deemed to have met the red card test, the second step is to determine the appropriate sanction. Players should be ready to discuss their disciplinary history (if any) and provide their upcoming schedule.
If we receive no response from the club in terms of how to get in touch with the player OR the club does not respond to us in order to set up the hearing:
- The CJO (or committee) will rule on the matter usually within 1 day of the hearing. The rulings and all communications from the CJO/DC will be sent the President or Coach whose information is on file and published with the FRU on the contact page of the website.
- World Rugby Head Contact Protocol can be found at this link, as may be updated from time to time.
- Teams who believe that an act of foul play that warranted a red card occurred during a match and was given a red card by the referee may seek a team citing. The team citing MUST be submitted by 5pm on the Monday following the match (or 5pm two days after the match date) and MUST include the following:
- A description of the incident, including the player’s numbers for each player involved, the foul play law violated, the result of the foul play and other relevant details.
- Match video of the incident, which must include at least 1 minute prior to the incident and 1 minute after the incident and should not exceed three (3) minutes in total length, absent good reason. The full match video is sufficient, provided a specific time stamp of the incident is provided.
Failure to follow the above procedure by the time required is grounds for dismissal of the team citing. A team citing that is properly and timely received will be reviewed by a trained citing commissioner or trained community judicial officer (which will not be the same CJO if the matter proceeds).
A player subject to a team citing is NOT provisionally suspended unless such citing is then issued as a citing complaint by a certified citing commissioner after the initial review.
The FRU may, at any time, institute a fee, not to exceed $100, that will be required to submit a team citing and will be refunded if the citing was found to have been made in good faith, even if such citing is not upheld.
Actions other than by players on the field of play that are subject to a sending off (red card or citing) may be considered misconduct, and may be reported by the referee, other coach/players, or other interested persons and such actions will be investigated following Regulation 18. All clubs, players, administrators or others involved in the game are required to cooperate with any investigation of misconduct and failure to provide cooperation may itself be grounds for a misconduct complaint.
This is an overview of the discipline process and does not supersede any of the core principles that are outlined by the by-laws or World Rugby. The following was written to simplify and summarize World Rugby Regulations 17, 18 and 20 and the FRU proceedings and likely relevant timelines.
However, Procedures or proceedings under Regulation 17 and/or Regulation 18 or any decision of a Disciplinary Committee, Judicial Officer, Appeal Committee or Appeal Officer shall not be quashed or held invalid by reason only of any defect, irregularity, omission or other technicality unless such defect, irregularity, omission or technicality raises a material doubt as to the reliability of the findings or decisions of a Disciplinary Committee, Judicial Officer, Appeal Committee or Appeal Officer or results in a miscarriage of justice. (17.30.2). This means if the referee is late to file a report or the information is not processed within certain timelines, this is not grounds for dismissal or appeal.
Discipline section of by-laws adopted November 2018:
No later than fifteen (15) days after the Annual General Meeting, the President shall nominate the chairperson of the Disciplinary Committee (“D/C Chair”), who is subject to confirmation by a simple majority of the Executive Committee. (Pending the approval of any nominee, the incumbent D/C Chair shall continue to serve.) It is preferred that the D/C Chair be a currently licensed attorney.
No later than fifteen (15) days after her confirmation, the D/C Chair shall nominate a panel of at least five (5), but no more than ten (10) people to serve on the “D/C Panel,’ which is the group of individuals from which the members of a particular “Disciplinary Committee” that will consider particular disciplinary matters shall be drawn. Nominees to the D/C Panel are subject to confirmation by a simple majority of the Executive Committee, which may confirm or reject any or all of the nominees. If member clubs are playing matches at any point in time when there are not five (5) members of the D/C Panel, including the D/C Chair, the President shall appoint a sufficient number of individuals to D/C Panel on a temporary basis so that there are five (5) members of the D/C Panel, including the D/C Chair.
As members of the D/C Panel are nominated and confirmed by the Executive Committee, no later than fifteen (15) days after the Annual General Meeting, the President shall nominate the chairperson of the Disciplinary Committee (“D/C Chair”), who is subject to confirmation by a simple majority of the Executive Committee. (Pending the approval of any nominee, the incumbent D/C Chair shall continue to serve.)
It is preferred that the D/C Chair be a currently licensed attorney. No later than fifteen (15) days after her confirmation, the D/C Chair shall nominate a panel of at least five (5), but no more than ten (10) people to serve on the “D/C Panel,’ which is the group of individuals from which the members of a particular “Disciplinary Committee” that will consider particular disciplinary matters shall be drawn.
Nominees to the D/C Panel are subject to confirmation by a simple majority of the Executive Committee, which may confirm or reject any or all of the nominees. If member clubs are playing matches at any point in time when there are not five (5) members of the D/C Panel, including the D/C Chair, the President shall appoint a sufficient number of individuals to D/C Panel on a temporary basis so that there are five (5) members of the D/C Panel, including the D/C Chair.
As members of the D/C Panel are nominated and confirmed by the Executive Committee, the nominated and confirmed members shall replace the temporary members appointed by the President. Individuals appointed to the D/C Panel on a temporary basis by the President may be nominated and confirmed as regular members of the D/C Panel.
There are no particular requirements for membership on the D/C Panel, except (i) the panel members should be experienced rugby people willing to fulfill the duties of membership on the D/C, (ii) in addition to the D/C Chair, one (1) of the other panel members should (but need not) be a licensed attorney so that such person may act as the temporary chair of the D/C when the D/C Chair is not available to serve as chair in accordance with these By-Laws. No person shall serve on the D/C with respect to any match in which such person participated as a player, coach, or match official.