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The five Parramatta officials who were suspended by the NRL in the wake of the club’s salary cap scandal look likely to stay banned, with the NSW Supreme Court today upholding the NRL’s findings.
Justice James Stevenson ruled the NRL had the right to suspend Eels chairman Steve Sharp, CEO John Boulous, directors Tom Issa and Peter Serrao and football manager Daniel Anderson.
“Today the Supreme Court dismissed proceedings brought by the five officials of the Parramatta NRL club to challenge the validity of their interim suspension by the NRL as `club officials’ under the NRL rules,” Justice Stevenson wrote.
The five had argued procedural fairness had not been followed in handing down their suspensions.
The NRL are said to be seeking court costs over the matter, thought to be in the region of $100,000.
The Eels were provisionally slugged with a $1 million fine, along with 12 points from this season being stripped and the loss of their Auckland Nines title as a result of massive breaches of the salary cap over a number of years.
Prior to the sanctions being handed down to the club, chairman Sharp had promised that he would stand down if it would ensure the club did not face any further sanction. However, he also swore to take the battle to court if he felt the NRL had overstepped their mark.
As such, NRL CEO Todd Greenberg has been careful to emphasise that the sanctions are currently provisional – as evidenced by the fact the Eels still sit in fifth on the 2016 ladder, with points for all wins still present.
However, that looks likely to change this week, with the so-called ‘Gang of Five’ due to give their official response to their show cause notices on Wednesday, and the club’s official response to the salary cap irregularities due on Friday.
The NRL are expected to give a final, official punishment to the club and its officials later this month.
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