As Toulon ponder whether to appeal against a 12-week suspension imposed on their sometime England full-back Delon Armitage for swearing at supporters after this month’s Champions Cup defeat at Leicester, they will have to weigh up the risk of the ban being increased given the scathing comments made by the independent three-man panel that heard the case in Dublin last week.
The full judgment of the panel was published . It described Armitage as someone with an “appalling disciplinary record” who had showed no remorse after admitting swearing twice at a group of fans, which included children, while he attempted to find a function room after the match. The panel concluded that the 12-week suspension handed out after he was found guilty of misconduct reflected the past record of a “habitual offender”.
Armitage had faced two counts of misconduct. He was cleared of the first by the panel because of the conflicting accounts witnesses who claimed that as he was standing behind the posts when Leicester were taking a penalty he made a foul-mouthed remark about the home supporters to a colleague loud enough to be heard, but was found guilty of twice telling fans to “fuck off” after the match. Armitage claimed in his defence that he had used the expression in a dismissive rather than a threatening manner and that he had been engaging in light banter.
“The offending is in direct contravention of three of the five values of rugby set out in the World Rugby playing charter, namely integrity, discipline and respect,” the judgment said. “It is part of the function of the disciplinary committee to act as guardian to those values. We considered the player’s previous record and concluded that he is an habitual offender against the laws of the game, and one for whom there needs to be a deterrent to combat a clear pattern of offending, both on and off the field. He denied the charge (of misconduct) throughout and though he admitted he had sworn and gesticulated to the spectators, he did not accept that constituted misconduct. He showed no remorse in his evidence or at any stage during the proceedings.”
Toulon have until 4pm on Christmas Eve to lodge an appeal, either against the guilty verdict or the length of the suspension, which as it stands means Armitage cannot play until 8 March. The club’s president, Mourad Boudjellal, said he was considering taking legal action against two Leicester supporters who gave evidence to the panel. “We are not discounting going after them for false testimony,” he said. “The ruling against our player was incomprehensible, resting on allegations of opposition supporters whose objectivity we can discount. There is no formal proof to substantiate the claims.”
Meanwhile, Dylan Hartley’s latest disciplinary hearing will take place in London on Tuesday afternoon. The Northampton hooker was sent off for elbowing the Leicester centre Matt Smith in the face on Saturday.
