EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS REPORTS
BILL LOTHIAN ([email protected])
EDINBURGH Rugby were today formally charged with misconduct by the SRU and called to a disciplinary hearing at Murrayfield on Thursday evening.

The action centres on the alleged withdrawal of players from Scotland's World Cup training as part of a dispute involving competition payments, which has led to Edinburgh claiming around £800,000 in Heineken European Cup revenues alone, it also emerged today. But the hearing, set for a "hospitality box" within Murrayfield, is being dismissed by Edinburgh owner Bob Carruthers.

Carruthers, who is named in the letter along with the club's other directors, says he will only attend if the hearing is totally independent and rejects the involvement of a legal firm brought in at the SRU's instigation.

Mr Carruthers claims the firm, on behalf of the SRU, have threatened defamation proceedings against him.

"This is not an appropriate forum to investigate what is essentially a commercial dispute to which SRU plc are a party. Also, it is based on misinterpretation - disciplinary hearings are meant for establishing what happens next when a bloke from one club punches another club.

"In those circumstances, while the memory is fresh, it has to be established whether the touch judge saw anything and so on.

"We accept the SRU must have jurisdiction over the game in that kind of situation and others.

"(But) this is a fishing expedition (on behalf of the SRU).

"There are hundreds of well qualified firms in Edinburgh along who can conduct arbitration," says Carruthers.

The figure of £800,000 was raised by Carruthers who said the SRU share of European monies was £2.5 million.

"If they gave us even a third of that we would be interested," he said.

This article was posted on 10-Jul-2007, 12:07 by Hugh Barrow.