Falsified passports, forged emails and a missing rogue employee - London Welsh's points deduction is a story made for a spy novel.
The full RFU judgement, which has been published following a hearing that was extended to three days, is filled with surreptitious details that ultimately could undermine London Welsh's attempt to remain in the Premiership.
At the centre of the punishment is former London Welsh team manager Mike Scott, who is set to appear in front of his own disciplinary hearing in the near future.
Following the arrival of New Zealand scrum-half Tyson Keats in July last year, Scott covered up the initial rejection of Keats' application for an ancestry visa after signing for Welsh, before submitting a falsified player registration form to the RFU which stated that Keats had been born in England and was English.
The RFU, suspicious of Keats' nationality, asked for proof of the scrum-half's British passport from Scott back in October. After a delay, Scott submitted a forged passport to the RFU.
Furthermore, with London Welsh eager to establish Keats' squad status in order to create investment for other signings in their bid for survival, Scott was chased by then director of rugby Steve Lewis for clarification.
Scott produced doctored emails from the RFU confirming Keats status as an English Qualified Player (EQP), although his status as an EQP did not appear on the RFU database.
With the RFU waiting on Keats's birth certificate and Welsh surprised to see that Keats was still not appearing as an EQP on the RFU database, Scott failed to appear for Welsh's fixture against Grenoble.
Five days later, Scott confessed in an email to Lewis - describing the situation as "one almighty mess." He was then cautioned by the Metropolitan Police and admitted to fraud in February.
Keats was granted an ancestry visa following a second application in January, but the damage was already done.
He by then had played 10 matches for Welsh - in which the side had won 20 league points - enough for the RFU to rule that a 10-point punishment was deserved, with five suspended until next season.
Welsh will now appeal the judgement, stating that "the club was unknowingly the victim of one individual's fraudulent conduct."
The damage though feels irreparable. Welsh have won only one of their last 12 matches in all competitions - their last victory in the Premiership came against London Irish in December.
Now two points adrift at the bottom, their hopes of survival are incredibly slim. Away games at Gloucester, Bath and London Irish remain, with the Exiles also hosting Northampton and Worcester at home.
Plenty of the good work carried out by Welsh in edging them closer to safety has now been undercut from within. If the points deduction ultimately condemns Lyn Jones side to relegation, it will add another chapter to one of game's more bizarre stories in recent years.
By Ben Coles
@bencoles_
Comments
new_j4a says...
@startledwombat...very funny...LOL
Posted 23:03 16th March 2013
lawynd says...
What I am surprised at is that the CPS are not pursuing a case against him as an individual, even taking into account that he did not contravene any immigration laws as he entered the country legally. Unless the RFU are deigning to press charges, he should be prosecuted for an attempt to defraud an organisation for the monetary aspect.
Posted 17:19 11th March 2013
lawynd says...
From memory, the club could not be criminally liable as they're an unincorporated entity, unless it could be proven that they were guilty of non-vicarious liability; in this case, they denied all knowledge of it. Whether that's true or not we'll probably never know, but it seems unlikely that Scott would fall on his sword if others were involved.
Posted 17:19 11th March 2013
lawynd says...
@APV1 - you and kybone nailed it. Some additional points - effectively in this case, the company (London Welsh) is being prosecuted (by the RFU) as an individual, in the same way that a company would be liable for corporate manslaughter, for example. Thus, Welsh are punished, as well as the individual that put them in the situation.
Posted 17:18 11th March 2013
trelawney says...
APV1 You are absolutely correct.
Ultimately the decision rested with the Directors of LW and they should have been aware that something was wrong. Did they have a 'Blind Eye' policy?
Posted 00:11 10th March 2013
pagra says...
My sympathies are with the lpayers, fans and administrators that pulled hard to be admitted to the Premiership.Especially after the double shuffle they were given prior to that admission by the league.Not too much was said after the fact about that one ,was it?
Posted 19:15 09th March 2013
Kent says...
The hypocrisy of the posts on this site is truly staggering
Posted 12:14 09th March 2013
kybone says...
APV1- You're absolutely right, it is the duty of the employer to make sure that an employee has all the correct paperwork needed to work in this country. I can't believe for a second that only Mike Scott knew what was going on here! I have to say im pretty shocked at the full details of this story. Initially i was led to believe that the issue was around a simple clerical error where Keates was mistakenly registered as English- obviously no mistake about it was there. It is a bit of a shame because, although i thought LW were going down anyway, the relegation fight was set to go right to the wire. Now it seems almost a forgone conclusion that LW will be bottom after game 22.
Posted 17:33 08th March 2013
APV1 says...
@ startledwombat - could be worse, he could be Australian..!
;-)
Posted 12:07 08th March 2013
Waz4before says...
startledwombat - another good point well made :-)
Posted 10:31 08th March 2013
Waz4before says...
Jaycee - good points and well made. I was very disappointed in LWs move to Oxford, too much of the wimbledon syndrom for me; I appreciate the planning issues and other restrictions but they didn't have to take promotion, they weren't forced; so a choice of move city's and leave their supporters or stay in the championship and stay with their supporters was on - sadly, IMO, they chose to leave ..
Posted 10:10 08th March 2013
APV1 says...
If my limited knowledge is correct (please do correct me if it's not - lawynd or Headhunter99 perhaps..?), it is an employer's duty to ensure that an employee is eligible to work in the country and for the company. They must conduct due diligence and ultimately have to do the background check.
If an employee submits false details which are not checked, the employer is still at fault. If the employee submits false details which stand up to reasonable scrutiny by the employer, then the employer may have a defence.
This isn't the case here. Unless Keats was aware of Scott's "antics", it is entirely the employer's fault. And we all have to trust our more junior employees to do the right thing. If they don't, the company is at fault (imo) and deserve sanction. Internally they will obviously need to take action against the individual, but a governing body will take action against the company as a whole and the CEO as an individual, if necessary.
There are some horrific stories about very senior managers / directors being punished for H&S breaches, from which they are so far removed, it's not funny. But the buck stops with them.
And so it does with LW - from an outside point of view, the buck stops at the front door.
And 1 point and £1500 per match seems pretty reasonable to me. We have to ignore their place on the table and the impact it will have and consider this objectively. And 5 of the points have been suspended until next season!
If it were one of the top 6 AP clubs, would people worry as much about a 5 point loss this season? I doubt it.
Whilst it is a shame and it brings our beloved game into disrepute (again!), I think it's absolutely fair and right.
Posted 09:53 08th March 2013
startledwombat says...
The victim here is Keats. The poor lad's circumstances have been reduced to the point where he has, without demur, had thrust upon him the label of Pom.
Posted 08:34 08th March 2013
jaycee_111 says...
Waz4before
I agree with most of what you said re the cheating but the rant about L .Welsh leaving London for Oxford is unfounded in any sort of logic. Have you been to London Welsh have you seen what passes as their stadium? They have a very small old stand they are not allowed to build anything else due to the local residents and the RAA how can you play premiership games at a ground with such low capacity? They had to move any other option however again if you knew anything about the club you would know the lease on the RAA ground comes up for renewal very soon and that includes London Scottish and Richmond¿s grounds that adjoin the Welsh grounds with that large area a stadium may get planning permission if it was set far enough back from the houses so they may well return.
Posted 07:36 08th March 2013
Waz4before says...
It's always a shame when off filed antics affect what hard-working players have achieved on field; however I have no doubt Welsh will take this to the courts and probably win; they are a club without morals or scruples and this was a deliberate deception and falsification of paperwork and yes, it will be a shame if it ends up being this 5 point deduction that seals their fate but at the end of the day what they did was deliberate fraud, lacked any form of corporate governance from the same people now appealing and squealing like stuck pigs at the "injustice" who were conveniently absent when the deed was done. They should not be allowed off the hook by their "old boys network" in the legal system either! I'm not a fan of LW mind you (can you tell?) abandoning home for Oxford was a disgrace in the first place and I think its time Welsh went down, went home, and think again about what their club really is and what it means to their supporters!
Posted 05:38 08th March 2013