Saracens fined by ERC

By Jason Harris
April 9 2003

Saracens have been fined 10,000 Euros by European Rugby Cup Ltd. after the postponement of the Parker Pen Challenge Cup quarter-final first leg tie against Newcastle Falcons last January.

Saracens have also been ordered to pay and addtional 2,000 Euros costs, taking the total to approximately £8,000.

The punishments were agreed by an independently-appointed ERC disciplinary panel consisting of chairman Douglas Hunter (Scotland), Brian McLoughlin (Ireland) and Achille Reali (Italy), that met in Dublin.

The club was found guilty of not taking adequate precautions against the frozen pitch that caused the 24-hour delay before the match was evetually played and for not securing an alternative venue.

ERC's compensation claims are based on the extra travel and hotel costs incurred by teams having to stay for extra days, and the venue costs of fulfilling postponed fixtures.

Whether Saracens will try to claim compensation from the owners of Vicarage Road stadium remains to be seen after a failure of the undersoil heating some 12 hours before the original scheduled kick-off caused the postponement.