PARIS, 11 October – An RWC Appeal Committee heard an appeal by the Georgia player Otar Eloshvili against his seven-week suspension for for a dangerous tackle on a France player in the Pool D match in Marseille on 30 September 2007.
The Appeal Committee comprised Chairman Bruce Squire QC, Judge Guillermo Tragant and Maître Paul Mauriac.
The Appeal Committee upheld the decision of the Judicial Officer, Jannie Lubbe SC, on Wednesday.
The appeal was brought only against the suspension imposed. After hearing an argument advanced on the player’s behalf, the Appeal Committee was not persuaded the Judicial Officer had erred in principle or was otherwise wrong in the findings he made which led to the period of suspension imposed.
The Appeal Committee was satisfied the penalty imposed by the Judicial Officer was properly within the range appropriate for a dangerous tackle of the kind under consideration and was in comparative terms consistent with the penalty imposed in the one other case of dangerous tackling of this kind dealt with by the Appeal Committee at this Tournament.
RNS dk/mp
