LISTEN: Manly rub salt into Eels' wound, start victory celebrations mid-Brad Arthur presser
This can't have been a lot of fun for Brad and Gutho!
Manly have called on authorities to urgently bring forward any evidence of match-fixing in the NRL before further damage is done to the club and game.
Chief executive Joe Kelly fronted media after Friday night’s 30-18 loss to Canberra at GIO Stadium to address reports two Sea Eagles games from last season were under the spotlight.
It followed a statement earlier in the day in which the club said it was upset about the “unfair” and “unsubstantiated” allegations and stressed it had not yet been contacted by NSW Police nor was it aware of any official investigation.
“This unfounded speculation is causing our game an awful lot of distress at the moment – not only our game but our club in particular,” Kelly said.
“This proud and successful community-based club is really hurting.
“What we’d like to do is really urge the authorities to go very quickly and as soon as possible bring evidence forward – if there is evidence.
“If there’s anything to substantiate, we’d like that substantiated as soon as possible. We don’t want this to linger at all.”
Kelly reiterated Manly’s earlier support for NRL boss Todd Greenberg’s threat of life bans for any player or official found guilty of match-fixing and promised to fully co-operate with any investigation.
The chief executive said he has not spoken to any players about the allegations.
He also claimed to be previously unaware of any associations or links between his players or underworld figures until it was revealed in the media on Thursday and Friday.
But he did confirm there was a meeting with the NRL regarding concerns about certain player associations over 18 months ago.
“There’s been some concerns in the past from the club and owners of the club, too, with certain associations, so we’ll be stressing that to our players,” he said.
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This can't have been a lot of fun for Brad and Gutho!
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