Salford City Reds owner Marwan Koukash is disappointed with the RFL’s decision to deduct his team two points for fielding 14 men against Castleford Tigers.
The Reds were initially fined £10,000 – now reduced to £5,000 – for breaching the rules, but the RFL have punished them further after they appealed this decision.
With the deduction, Salford have slipped below London Broncos in the Super League table and Koukash believes his side are being made an example of.
“I’m very, very disappointed and I need to study the report from the independent body who issues the fine,” he told the BBC World Service.
“Why didn’t they look at deducting points earlier on – are they trying to make an example of us?”
The incident occurred in the dying minutes of the Reds’ 34-30 win over Castleford in April, in which the men in question – Darrell Griffin and replacement Vic Mauro – were involved in tackles.
Koukash revealed he felt the original fine was overly harsh and compared it with a significantly lower fine from several years ago.
“The original fine of £10,000 was very heavy, it’s almost a hundred times more than a similar club was fined a few years back,” he said.
“We made a mistake, it was not a deliberate mistake, so I couldn’t understand why one club could be fined £100 and us be fined £10,000.
“To be told that they reduced the fine to £5,000, big deal. To be deducted two points, it doesn’t make any sense.”
Image courtesy of UK Rugby Leage, via YouTube, with thanks.
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