'Knights disbanded'

Knights captain Dinie Abu Bakar(2nd from L) has been slapped with a five-year ban. Picture: BT
JASON THOMAS
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
Saturday, March 19, 2011



Knights Rugby Football Club punished for indiscipline.

Defending champions also out of BRFU league.

FOR every action there is a consequence — Knights Rugby Football Club just found that out the hard way.

The defending Brunei Rugby Football Union (BRFU) Rugby League champions have paid the price for their unruliness during a Feb 19 pre-season game against the Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) Sharks, where their captain Dinie Abu Bakar threatened a referee after the match and is now slapped with a five-year ban.

Dinie was already sanctioned for physical abuse of a match official and suspended from playing any rugby for 48 weeks until May 31, but the club still allowed their star player on the field.

The club's subsequent failure to respond to requests to attend a disciplinary hearing on March 9 has seen BRFU disband the side, and they will play no part in this year's league which kicks off on April 2.

"The Knights won't be in the league this season. They have been disbanded by the (union's) judicial board," BRFU president Dr Hj Kamaruddin Dato Seri Paduka Hj Talib exclusively revealed to The Brunei Times yesterday.

"It was a big offence for him to play. The management knew about it but they still allowed him to play," he added.

"Dinie has been suspended for five years and the management and team have also been penalised.

"What is most compelling is that they both did not turn up for the hearing.

"This (indiscipline) is not their first offence. They have committed several offences, such as during the National Sports Festival (PSK) and before that, which we have not taken serious action.

"But this time we have to put our foot down. We won't tolerate any more of this attitude.

"We have discussed it with the Department of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, and they agreed (with our decision).

"We have also referred this to the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) and the International Rugby Board (IRB)," said the president, who added that the club could appeal the ruling.

Dinie and the Knights aren't the only ones in hot water though, with the team's coach and mentor Ben Bourne also faced with a six-month ban starting on March 11 the date the BRFU's Disciplinary Committee issued a written decision on the hearing.

The strongly worded eight-page letter, which was sent to The Brunei Times by the committee's chairman Roy Prabhakaran, says that Bourne is barred from "having any involvement with the Knights RFC in any capacity whatsoever".

The Department of Youth and Sports' development officer for the sport, Bourne will be limited to improving rugby at the school-level for now.

"He is confined to the youth development programme which is from school to school," said Dr Hj Kamaruddin.

"This has also been recommended and approved by the Department of Youth and Sports.

"He will also look after all tournaments, be it domestic or international, to help map them out and make sure they run smoothly," he added.

Contrary to Dr Hj Kamaruddin's statement, however, the Disciplinary Committee's written decision makes no mention of disbanding the Knights and even says that it doesn't want "to impact the club so hard as to 'kill' them off".

It also agreed that the Knights would be docked three points or whatever the value of a win is in the next local interclub 15-a-side tournament.

The written statement also stated that it felt the incident had set the sport back in Brunei by a few years and had highlighted all the things that rugby was not.

"We sincerely hope this decision will be used by clubs around the country to warn and educate all those involved in the game that the interest of the game must never be compromised or prejudiced and that there are serious consequences if this were to happen," read the statement.

"We felt that a written decision highlighting our concerns with respect to the development of rugby in Brunei needed to be delivered with the hope that all those involved in the sport will always remember that no one is bigger than the game," it added.

The Knights' absence from the league means there will only be five teams in this year's season; the Belait Pythons, UBD Sharks, Bandar Blacks, Royal Brunei Police Force and the Royal Brunei Armed Forces who are making a return after sitting out last season.The Brunei Times