Salford Red Devils appeal fails
SALFORD Red Devils owner Dr Marwan Koukash has been unsuccessful in his appeal against a Rugby Football League decision to dock six points from the club for an alleged salary cap breach.
The millionaire businessman – who also owns racehorses and the Doubletree by Hilton in Liverpool city centre – appeared at a tribunal yesterday.
The day before the hearing Koukash tweeted: “I would like to apologise to anyone at the RFL that I have not offended. Please be patient and I will get to you shortly” but the club has offered no further comment following today’s decision.
In its verdict independent body Sports Resolutions upheld the decision by an RFL tribunal to find Salford Red Devils guilty of breaching the £1.82m salary cap in the 2014 and 2015 season.
As a result, the club was fined £5,000 and had six points deducted.
The tribunal, held in April, found Salford guilty of seeking to avoid declaring payments made to Tony Puletua by entering into a contract with the player via another company associated with the club and not declaring benefits to Lami Tasi and Theo Fages.
An RFL Spokesperson said: “The decision today from Sports Resolutions clearly shows that the RFL disciplinary process is robust and fair.
“It is of utmost importance that clubs adhere to the salary cap and that if they are found to have broken it they are held to account.
“As we have previously stated and agreed we see this decision as final and binding and hope all parties involved can now focus on the rest of the season.”
Salford are ninth in the table, five points behind eighth-placed Castleford. The club must win their next three matches if they are to stand a chance of finishing in the top eight.
Meanwhile, a tribunal will sit at the RFL’s Leeds headquarters on July 14, to determine if the Red Devils should be punished for crowd trouble at the end of their Super League game at Huddersfield on Easter Monday.
Salford players Junior Sa’u and Justin Carney entered the visitors’ stand to protect their families caught up in fighting.
Koukash again intends to defend his club, arguing that little could have been done to prevent the trouble caused by a small group of men apparently on a stag do and pointing out that they have already punished the offenders by issuing life bans.
