The NRL have come down hard on Tevita Pangai Jr after he breached the league's COVID-19 biosecurity protocols.
The Brisbane Broncos star has been issued a breach notice by the NRL, stood down indefinitely and fined $30,000 for attending a barber shop opening which was a "failure to comply with the code's biosecurity protocols".
"The notice alleges multiple breaches by Pangai Junior of the protocols over a period of time," the NRL said in a statement released on Wednesday afternoon.
"The notice directs that Pangai Junior be excluded from the Broncos' bubble and any NRL match day until such time that he can satisfy the NRL that he will comply with all biosecurity protocols. It also proposes Pangai Junior be fined $30,000."
On Tuesday it was reported that the Broncos would tear up Pangai Jr's $650,000 contract.
Acting NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said Pangai Jr showed "disregard" for the strict league rules which were designed to help keep players from being exposed to COVID-19, with any potential outbreak undoubtedly threatening the 2020 season.
"We believe this was a case of a player committing multiple contraventions of the protocols and showing a disregard for the league's rules,'' Abdo said.
"We will do everything we can to protect our season. Players or officials who show they are unable to comply with the biosecurity protocols will be removed from club bubbles until we are satisfied that they will comply with the protocols.
"We believe in this case, Tevita has not been able to do that.
"This decision protects the health of our playing squads and most importantly the general community.
"I want to reiterate that the overwhelming majority of players and officials are doing the right thing and we thank them for that. Where there are breaches of protocols we will take immediate action to ensure no risk of infection."
It has been reported that members of the Mongols bikie gang were present at the barber shop Pangai Jr attended.
There is no suggestion Pangai Jr was involved in any criminal wrongdoing, but he had returned from Sydney and broken the quarantine bubble to be at the shop's opening event.
On Wednesday Queensland Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski spoke to media and briefly addressed the Pangai Jr incident.
"That was an investigation that was done through our State Crime Command. As a result of that investigation it became apparent there'd been breaches by that particular player, which have been dealt with," he said.
"In terms of any ongoing investigations, I'm not going to comment on that at the moment."
from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/tevita-pangai-jnr-stood-down-and-fined-by-nrl-for-bubble-breach/07303c81-ca8d-4947-9d16-48704a01ab90
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