Leeds Rhinos will not be punished after they decided against travelling to face Catalans before the Covid-19 lockdown.
The Rhinos were due to travel to Perpignan for a game on March 14th but decided against travelling after Joe Greenwood showed coronavirus related symptoms.
At the time, the RFL had said the Rhinos could face possible sanctions for not taking part in the game. The government advice was that the trip was still permitted and Leeds’ decision to stay put was a breach of operational rules.
However, the RFL have deemed that the exceptional and unique circumstances mean that, in retrospect, the Rhinos made the right decision and will not take further action.
The game was set to be played behind closed doors and streamed live on YouTube, with France ahead of the UK and already starting to enforce restrictions.
A statement from the governing body read: “The RFL board and compliance manager have respectively considered matters arising from Leeds Rhinos’ failure to fulfil the match.
“In accordance with the operational rules – and having considered all the circumstances which it was noted were truly exceptional – the RFL board has determined that the match should be replayed and the compliance manager has determined that no other disciplinary action should be taken.
“Leeds have been reminded – and have accepted – that the operational rules are in place to ensure the smooth operation and integrity of the professional rugby league competitions and that in more usual circumstances the failure to fulfil a fixture would have led to significant sanctions.”
