Contents:

Adult Rugby Citing Procedures

• Premiership, Championship 1st XV matches) and PWR
• All other Rugby levels where a Citing Commissioner is not appointed
• Premiership Shield, BUCS Super Rugby matches and other matches as designated by the RFU Head of Discipline

Adult Rugby Citing Procedures

For Age Grade Citing Procedures please refer to RFU Regulation 19, Appendix 6 (Paragraph 9)

The following citing procedures shall apply, save for where there are specific citing procedures put in place for a particular match/tournament/competition by the RFU.

Premiership, Championship 1st XV matches) and PWR

The procedures set out below apply only to Clubs in the Premiership and Championship and PWR, where an RFU Citing Commissioner is appointed.

• 1. The RFU Head of Discipline shall ensure that match footage is made available to the Citing Commissioner.
• 2. A Club participating in a match may refer any incidents in the match to the Citing Commissioner that they want them to consider, within the timescales set out below
  • Premiership: 12 hours of conclusion of the match
  • Championship and PWR: 12 hours of conclusion of the match
• 3. A Citing Commissioner alone shall have the power and responsibility to cite a Player whom the independent video and/or other evidence shows to have committed an act of Foul Play whether it has been detected by the Match Officials. Such citing, to be effective, must be made in writing to be received by the RFU Head of Discipline from the nominated Citing Commissioner within the timescales set out below:
  • Premiership: 24 hours of the conclusion of the match
  • Championship and PWR: 48 hours of the conclusion of the match
• 4. The timeframes in paragraphs 2 and 3 may be extended if the RFU Head of Discipline determines that exceptional circumstances exist.
• 5. Before bringing a citing complaint, the Citing Commissioner must be satisfied that in their opinion the act of Foul Play merited the award of a red card. That is, a Citing Commissioner shall be entitled to cite a Player for any act(s) of Foul Play which in the opinion of the Citing Commissioner warranted the Player being ordered off. The citing complaint shall contain the following information:
  • a) the date and place of the alleged Foul Play;
  • b) the name of the Player in respect of whom the complaint is made and the team they were playing for at the time of the alleged Foul Play;
  • c) the name of the opposing team; and
  • d) full details of the alleged Foul Play including brief details of the evidence relied on.
• 6. If the Citing Commissioner determines that a Player committed an act of Foul Play which in their assessment narrowly fails to meet the red card test, they may issue a written warning (known as a ‘Citing Commissioner Warning’).
• 7. In these circumstances the RFU Head of Discipline shall communicate to the Player via their Club by way of a letter or email, indicating that the act of Foul Play was detected and that the Citing Commissioner has deemed that it merited a Citing Commissioner Warning. Such a written warning will be recorded on the Player’s disciplinary record and may be taken into consideration in future disciplinary proceedings. It will remain on a Player’s record for 5 years and will be treated the same as a Foul Play yellow card for the purposes of totting up during the relevant season and the relevant administrative fee, as set out in Appendix 3, will be payable by the Club.
• 8. Upon receipt of a report from a Citing Commissioner the RFU Head of Discipline (or their nominee) shall forward to the cited Player (through their Club) the charge sheet, a copy of the citing complaint and a copy of the independent video of the match containing the incident which has been cited (where available) and any other relevant evidence in support of the citing. The offending Player’s Club should be informed of the citing complaint within 48 hours of the decision by the Citing Commissioner to make a citing complaint. Thereafter, the RFU Discipline Hearings Manager shall make arrangements in accordance with the RFU Disciplinary Regulations for the hearing of the citing complaint.
• 9. Any hearing arising from a citing by a nominated Citing Commissioner and any appeal from such a hearing shall be conducted in accordance with RFU Regulation 19.
• 10. Citing Commissioners may cite a Player for an act of Foul Play where such act(s) may have been detected by the Referee or Assistant Referee (and/or TMO) and which may have been the subject of Referee action. A Citing Commissioner may not cite a Player for an act(s) of Foul Play in respect of which the Player has been ordered off save where the ordering off is as a result of two yellow cards. A Player in that situation may also be cited for the act(s) of Foul Play in either or both yellow card(s). A Citing Commissioner may cite a Player if they have been temporarily suspended from the field of play as a result of receiving a yellow card. Such citing may be made in respect of the incident(s) for which the player was temporarily suspended or otherwise.
• 11. In the case of a citing complaint, the function of the Disciplinary Panel is to determine whether the decision of the citing commissioner to cite the player was wrong. The Disciplinary Panel shall only determine this if they are persuaded on the balance of probabilities that the decision of the citing commissioner was wrong because of (i) mistaken identity or (ii) the red card test has not been met (see Regulation 19.4.41 in respect of Yellow Cards). The burden of proof will fall on the Player to demonstrate that the Citing Commissioner's decision was wrong. If the citing is upheld, the Disciplinary Panel shall determine the sanction to be imposed on the Player in accordance with Regulation 19. The Disciplinary Panel may take account of any action taken during the Match in respect of the foul play by the Referee and may, subject to Regulation 19.2.29, review the Referee’s decision and the circumstances surrounding it and may make a finding contrary to the Referee’s decision. If the Disciplinary Panel determines that an act of Foul Play was committed but that it did not meet the red card test then the Disciplinary Panel may, following a decision taken to dismiss a citing, determine that an on-field yellow card be recorded on the Player’s disciplinary record. This will be taken into consideration for totting-up purposes in the relevant season. There is no appeal against the decision of the Disciplinary Panel to record a Foul Play yellow card on the Player’s disciplinary record.

All other Rugby levels where a Citing Commissioner is not appointed

• 12. A citing complaint can only be made by Clubs participating in the relevant match.
• 13. A citing may be initiated where there is an allegation that a Player committed an act of Foul Play but was not awarded a red card for that act. The citing must be in writing, stating:
  • a) the date, venue and teams participating in the match;
  • b) details of the alleged act(s) of Foul Play, including the law which it is alleged has been breached, and as accurately as possible, the point of time in the match, score at the time and position on the field when and where the incident is alleged to have occurred;
  • c) the identity of (or means of identifying) the Player(s) alleged to have committed the act(s);
  • d) sufficient evidence to establish a prima facia case including any match footage that the complainant intends to adduce in support of the citing and;
  • e) the citing fee as set out in RFU Regulation 19, Appendix 3 and;
  • f) must be signed by the president, chair, secretary or nominated person authorised to act on behalf of the Club.
• 14.1 The citing must be addressed to the Disciplinary Secretary of the Constituent Body to which the cited Player’s Club is allocated, or to the RFU Head of Discipline as appropriate. In case of doubt the citing should be addressed to the RFU Head of Discipline.
• 14.2 The citing must be received by the Constituent Body Disciplinary Secretary or RFU Head of Discipline (as appropriate) not later than the 7th day following conclusion of the match. To be considered validly lodged, the citing report must include the information as referred to in 13(a)-(f) above.
• 14.3 Additional witness statements, supporting documents, including medical reports and any additional footage obtained by the citing club, must be sent to the Constituent Body Disciplinary Secretary or RFU Head of Discipline (as appropriate) no later than the 14th day following conclusion of the match.
• 15.1 In the absence of any case management directions being issued by the Disciplinary Panel, all evidence supporting the citing shall be received by the Constituent Body or the RFU Head of Discipline at least 7 days before the hearing.
• 15.2 A citing, once validly made, may not be withdrawn without the express permission of the RFU Head of Discipline.
• 15.3 Upon receiving a written citing the Disciplinary Secretary of the Constituent Body or the RFU Head of Discipline may consult the Match Officials (which in this context shall mean the Referee and any Assistant Referees officially appointed and not appointed by the participating Club) to ascertain whether they or any of them detected the act(s) which is the subject of citing.
• 15.5 A citing may be made whether or not the alleged act was seen by a Match Official. Where a Match Official did not detect the act of Foul Play cited, then it must be shown that had the Match Official seen the act, a red card should have been awarded. However, where a Match Official, having detected the alleged act, decided that it was either not Foul Play, or that it was, but they took action other than ordering the Player off, the citing Club must prove, on the balance of probabilities, that the Match Official was wrong in not sending the Player off.
• 15.6 The Constituent Body Disciplinary Secretary or the RFU Disciplinary Hearings Manager shall convene a Disciplinary Panel.
• 15.7 Where the Foul Play is not admitted by the Player, it is the responsibility of the Club that made the citing complaint to present the case before a Panel and prove on the balance of probabilities that the offence took place as cited and that the offence passed the red card test.
• 15.8 If a Club that initiated a citing fails, within 7 days of being notified, to respond to a request from the RFU Head of Discipline for further information in relation to the citing, the citing may be dismissed by the RFU Head of Discipline. For the avoidance of doubt, if the citing is dismissed in this way, it cannot be re-initiated.

Premiership Shield, BUCS Super Rugby matches and other matches as designated by the RFU Head of Discipline

• 16 The procedures set out below apply only to Clubs in the Premiership Shield, BUCS Super Rugby League and to any match where a Citing Commissioner is appointed by the RFU Head of Discipline at least 24 hours prior to the match.
• 17 It is the responsibility of the Clubs participating in the match to refer any incident to the appointed Citing Commissioner. Any Club referring an incident to the appointed Citing Commissioner must do so within 24 hours of the conclusion of the match, or within the time period stipulated by the RFU Head of Discipline, at least 24 hours prior to the match. The referring Club shall ensure that any match footage is provided at the time the referral is made.
• 18 A Citing Commissioner alone shall have the power and responsibility to cite a Player whom the video and/or other evidence shows to have committed an act of Foul Play whether or not it has been detected by the Match Officials. Such citing, to be effective, must be made in writing to be received by the RFU Head of Discipline from the appointed Citing Commissioner within 48 hours of the conclusion of the match. In order for the citing to be valid the Citing Commissioner must follow the procedure as laid out in paragraphs 5, 6 and 10 above.
• 19 The timeframes in paragraphs 17 and 18 may be extended if the RFU Head of Discipline determines that exceptional circumstances exist or if further evidence, that was not originally available, becomes available.