THE campaign to overturn the 18-month suspension imposed on Sheffield coach Mark Aston appears to be making solid progress.
Led by former Eagles chairman Ian Swire, whose words were published in our Mailbag page in last week’s issue, we have received many letters from frustrated Sheffield supporters this week, which you can read on page 19.
House of Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle was at Saturday’s match and he was told about the suspension and requested more information about it, which Ian has supplied and he has allowed me to print some extracts from it.
The letter is too long to replicate in full but I am happy to reproduce it in part below.
“I am writing on behalf of a coalition of senior rugby league figures – including a former RFL President, ex-club directors and individuals who have collectively invested millions in the sport – regarding what we believe to be a serious miscarriage of justice and deeply concerning inconsistencies in the RFL’s handling of this case, raising serious questions about the organisation’s governance and protocols.
“A key detail to keep front of mind: Matty Marsh was completely fit to play – this isn’t disputed by anyone, including the RFL. The tribunal’s own findings acknowledge he passed all his tests and showed no symptoms. The 18-month career-ending bans weren’t issued to Mark Aston and physio Mick Heys because of any player welfare concern – they were purely because paperwork was completed in the wrong order.
“There are serious questions about the independence and conduct of the tribunal itself. While the RFL presents it as ‘independent’, the reality is that it was both paid for and organised by the RFL. Mark Aston was denied the basic right to call witnesses in his defence.
“Mark was not informed he was under investigation for RFL conduct breaches before his interview.
“He was given no pre-interview disclosure or opportunity to seek advice.
“The tribunal acknowledged these issues were ‘unfortunate’ but proceeded anyway.
“On the morning of the Wigan game (Friday 22 March), the RFL received direct notification from Hannah Cole (Eagles’ medic) that she would not clear Matty Marsh to play. Crucially, neither Mark Aston nor Mick Heys were copied into this email. Despite receiving this notification, the RFL took no action.
“The RFL’s own GameDay system had the capability to automatically prevent Marsh from playing – this is proven by the fact they used this exact system to mark him as unavailable the following week. Their tribunal claims that GameDay ‘isn’t used for medical availability’ are directly contradicted by their own actions.
“Now the RFL is claiming legal privilege to avoid disclosing who received the Friday morning email and why no intervention occurred.”
The essential point, it seems to me, is that if a tribunal is going to effectively destroy someone’s career in the game, which is what an 18-month suspension means in Mark’s case, the wrongdoing must have been heinous, the tribunal process must have impeccably observed all the rules of justice, including the right to call witnesses and the punishment must be proportionate.
I’m not convinced that those standards have been met.
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