IF THERE were accusations abroad during the summer that rugby was queasy about giving stiff bans to players who engage in eye-gouging, the heavy suspension handed down by the ERC yesterday to French player David Attoub of Stade Français should ease those fears. French courts, however, may ultimately have a say in the matter.
Attoub, who was cited for deliberately putting his fingers into the eyes of Ulster and Ireland flanker Stephen Ferris during their Heineken Cup pool match on December 12 last, has been banned from playing for 70 weeks. That puts his infraction far into the top end of seriousness for such offences, which begins at a 24-week ban. The prop is prohibited from playing until April 22nd, 2011.
In a break with convention, the independent judicial officer, Judge Jeff Blackett, said Attoub’s offence against Ferris was “the worst act of contact against the eyes that I have had to deal with. It is a case of deliberate eye gouging.”
Blackett had decided he needed to deal with further evidence following an initial hearing in December and had imposed an interim suspension on the player.
Ferris, in another shift from the silence from players that often accompanied such incidents in the past, was furious after the match. He had been gouged twice in the game, once by Julien Dupuy, who has already been suspended for 24 weeks, and also by Attoub, who previously served a ban for gouging in the 2004/2005 season.
Questions now surround whether French law will allow such lengthy suspensions to stand within their jurisdiction. Because the ban was imposed outside the country it has to be upheld by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby, the body that runs the professional club game in France. If it decides the bans are draconian, the players could play domestically.
A year ago the Perpignan hooker Marius Tincu won his case in a French court after being banned for 18 weeks for gouging during a Heineken Cup match against Ospreys. Tincu was able to continue his club career.
If Dupuy succeeds in following Tincu, it would throw the IRB’s disciplinary system into total chaos. If selected it would also technically allow Dupuy to play for France against Ireland and also possibly against Ferris again in this year’s Six Nations Championship meeting in Paris.
