Club fined for eye gouging

Maidstone Rugby Club has been fined £2,000 and docked 50 league points by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) following an eye gouging incident that resulted in permanent loss of vision.

Action was taken by the sport's governing body after it failed to identify the player responsible for the injury to Gravesend's Clarence Harding on Janury 17 2010 (News 12.02.10) according to The Daily Telegraph. However, the RFU's chief disciplinary officer Judge Jeff Blacket determined the injury to Harding had been deliberate. The club was charged with being responsible for the actions of unidentified players and found guilty of 'conduct prejudicial to the interests of the game'. Disciplinary panel chairman Gareth Rees QC warned that 'players who commit serious acts of misconduct on the field of play must realise that such acts can have serious repercussions for the club as a whole.'