The Aquatic Sports Association Board of Appeals has reaffirmed the decision made by the governing body’s Disciplinary Commissioner, concluding that San Ġiljan’s Ben Plumpton was guilty of violent conduct after biting two Sliema players during a league match on Wednesday.
Plumpton faced a second hearing within 24 hours after initially receiving a four-match suspension and a €1,000 fine for his actions from the ASA Disciplinary Commissioner on Thursday.
San Ġiljan contested the Disciplinary Commissioner’s ruling, leading Plumpton to appear before the Board of Appeals on Friday afternoon.
After reviewing all the submissions in the case, the Board of Appeals concurred with the Disciplinary Commissioner’s finding that Plumpton did “indeed bite Sliema player Daniel Rizzo and also did bite Sliema player Jayden Cassar in two separate incidents during the match.”
Therefore, it was determined that the Disciplinary Commissioner was justified in finding Plumpton guilty of violent behaviour, imposing a four-match suspension and a €1,000 fine.
However, the Board of Appeals did not agree with the Disciplinary Commissioner that the case did not put the game into disrepute and thus decided to increase Plumpton’s suspension to 12 matches.
“The Board of Appeals contends that such abominable behaviour has no place in any sport. Footage and still pictures of these two incidents went viral on social media, provoking an outpour of anguish and astonishment,” the board said in its ruling.
“The media, as is its duty, has every right to investigate and inform the public accordingly and hence cannot be blamed in any way for highlighting this episode.
“The Board of Appeals strongly believes that these two incidents and their aftermath did, in fact, bring waterpolo into disrepute as Ben Plumpton was definitely of bad example not only to those who follow the game but also to the general public.
“His actions may also have a psychological impact on future opponents who may be hesitant to get close to him in the water due to such behaviour thus giving him an unfair advantage of not being marked closely.
“In view of the above, the Board of Appeals also finds Ben Plumpton in breach of DC-B2-02 and suspends him for an additional four matches as well as in breach of DC-B2-03 and suspends him for an additional four matches.”
Added to that Plumpton was fined an additional €270 for a total of €1,270.
