Tigers cop $5000 fine for the trainer who roaredBy Paul Daffey
Fri 15 Jun, 2012RICHMOND has been slapped with a $5000 fine after a trainer approached a field umpire and made offensive comments to him after last week's loss to Fremantle at the MCG.
The decision was taken after the match-day umpires had submitted a report about the comments to the AFL.
The AFL's general manager football operations, Adrian Anderson, said the League had fined Richmond after also taking into account the recent incident in which Richmond coach Damien Hardwick had approached the umpires during a game.
Hardwick was given a suspended fine of $5000 for abusing an emergency umpire during the third quarter of the Tigers' loss to Essendon in round eight.
The suspended fine was for three years. Hardwick made a formal apology to the umpire.
"All match-day staff are required to adhere to a clear set of guidelines in relation to their conduct towards umpires," Anderson said.
"It is important that the AFL continues to take a zero tolerance approach in dealing with umpire abuse, as a negative match-day environment is still the primary factor impacting on the recruitment and retention of umpires in community football across Australia.”
Richmond lost to Essendon by 19 points in round eight and by 12 points to Fremantle in round 11.
The Tigers play Greater Western Sydney at Skoda Stadium in their round-12 match on Saturday.
http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/138695/default.aspx