Several agents in the NRL have been sanctioned over a number of various offences – with one having his accreditation cancelled by the Australian elite competition.
Gavin Orr, Antoun Zibara, Isaac Moses and Mario Tartak have all been subject to non-linked investigations, which have now been concluded by the NRL, it has been revealed.
Orr has been accused of knowingly aiding a breach of the NRL’s Salary Cap Rules, and has had his accreditation cancelled: though he has appealed the decision, meaning that until his hearing in February, he will still be allowed to represent players as usual.
Zibara has been sanctioned with a three-year probation order for his accreditation after breaching the NRL’s ruels regulating the conduct of player agents. The NRL say the ‘offending conduct involved knowingly submitting several NRL Player Contracts which had not been witnessed in accordance with the NRL Rules’.
Moses has been issued with a notice after alleging he ‘breached his obligations as an Accredited Agent by counselling or assisting a person to not co-operate fully with the NRL Integrity and Compliance Unit’. That notice gives him an opportunity to show cause why his accreditation should not be suspended or cancelled as a result of the matters alleged.
Finally, Tartak – who only had his accreditation reinstated last month – has also been issued with a notice by the NRL. He will also be given an opportunity to respond, with the matter to be heard in the New Year.
NRL COO Nick Weeks said: “Our integrity unit has conducted extensive investigations over a number of months which has resulted in disciplinary proceedings against four player agents. The reform of the rules relating to player agents at the end of last year has allowed the NRL to hold player agents accountable in the same way as Players and Club Officials.”