MONIVEA CONTRVERSEY IN AIL

[rugbyfan]

I HAVE HEARD THAT MONIVEA WERE PLAYING TWO ILLEGAL PLAYERS IN THE ROUND ROBIN AND THE PLAY OFFS AGAINST CILL DARA AND WATER PARK RESPECTIVELY. IF THERE FOUND GUILTY WHAT WILL HAPPEN? WILL CILL DARA GET A SHOT AT PLAY OFFS OR WILL WATER PARK JUST STAY UP??

[Darce]

Turn off those caps there champ!

In answer to your question. I'm not sure. But given that the played an illegal player Vs. Cill Dara, then Cill Dara surely deserve a shot at Waterpark

[Openside]

I suggest you clear your ears out......Monivea used the same squad of players throughout with the exception of John Culkin who has dual status....

[d angry kid]

heard the same rumours last night that monivea brought in sum players during their round robin campaign whose registration would be dodgy.... if this is found to be true then surely cill dara deserve a fair shot at senior rugby next year??

[bunty85]

Is this true or just a few people setting up accounts to make some allelegations public. Is this the round robin to get into the AIL?

[Xplosive]

More than a rumour im afraid.........decison to be made Tuesday evening

[groundhog]

Waterpark have lodged an objection and it's with the IRFU. Hopefully a decision will be made sooner rather than later.

[Darce]

Waterpark have lodged an objection and it's with the IRFU. Hopefully a decision will be made sooner rather than later.

Any word on this issue yet lads?

[silly punt]

Waterpark have lodged an objection and it's with the IRFU. Hopefully a decision will be made sooner rather than later.

Any word on this issue yet lads?

This case will be heard next Tuesday @ midday I believe.

[d angry kid]

so if d rumours i've heard are true monivea had numerous illegal players during their round robin campaign- i guess this would explain the major improvement in form from their run in the junior cup. any word on how hearing went today?

[Openside]

From konckon.ie

Monivea’s All Ireland League place hangs in the balance this week, less than one month after beating Waterpark 35-3 in the promotion play off. All of this is as a result of an appeal made by the Waterford club surrounding the eligibility of two Monivea players in the game played on April 19th.

The players in question are hooker John Gavin and number eight Liam Mitchell, both of whom have come up through the underage structures in the club in the past decade. Both played in the game that in Waterford that saw the Galway club secure a place in Division 3 of the AIB League for the first time in their history.

The IRFU confirmed over the weekend that the objection will be heard by the All Ireland League sub committee this Tuesday and up for question at the hearing will be the eligibility of the aforementioned players.

If Waterpark’s appeal is successful then the sanctions against Monivea could range from a monetary fine to the awarding of the match to their opponents. That would mean the Munster side, who finished second bottom in Division 3 putting them into the relegation play off, would regain their position in the league and Monivea would be demoted back to the Connacht Junior league.

A Monivea RFC source confirmed on Monday that the club have accepted that John Gavin is not properly registered with their club but stress this was due to a clerical error in the transfer of forms. Gavin had left Monivea in 2006 to play for Clontarf but returned at the start of this season having informed the Dublin club and signed the transfer forms.

Monivea now acknowledge that those forms were lost at some point and as a result he is not properly registered. In the case of Liam Mitchell the IRFU and the Connacht branch have confirmed that he is registered with the club and Monivea are expecting this objection to be dismissed in the hearing.

The entire Monivea side that started the contest in Waterford have come through the club’s underage structure making this whole affair all the more frustrating for the Galway club. Up until two weeks ago they were celebrating their greatest ever season having bounced back from defeat to Portadown in round one to defeat, Cashel, Cill Dara and Waterpark on their way to AIL rugby. The next couple of weeks could determine whether that dream could turn into a nightmare.

[groundhog]

A Monivea RFC source confirmed on Monday that the club have accepted that John Gavin is not properly registered with their club but stress this was due to a clerical error in the transfer of forms. Gavin had left Monivea in 2006 to play for Clontarf but returned at the start of this season having informed the Dublin club and signed the transfer forms.

Monivea now acknowledge that those forms were lost at some point and as a result he is not properly registered.

It's more complicated than that but the whole story will come out in three days.

[Sea_point]

so if d rumours i've heard are true monivea had numerous illegal players during their round robin campaign- i guess this would explain the major improvement in form from their run in the junior cup. any word on how hearing went today?

Not true, this club have won the Connacht Junior league in four of the last five seasons and competed fairly well in the round robins every year finishing runner up in 03-04. The isssue lies with one player, and if true would be very unfortunate for Monivea. There's a huge amount to admire in a club like Monivea, I was down there watching Seapoint lose to them in the Round Robin series a few years back and although having ive in the county for thriteen years I wasn't aware of just how small the village is. The players all come from the hinterland to play there and 's fair to say that the rugbyclub is the biggest thing in the area. Bear in mind also that the clubs is no more than thrity years old, so they've achieved an awful lot in a short space in time...

[interesting]

does anyone know if the player played in the cill dara game? and if he did and they are found guilty will cill dara be given another shot? i presume they will just reinstate waterpark as that is the easiest option regardless. does anyone know?

[groundhog]

According to comments on the Knock On website, Monivea have been thrown-out. Waterparks and Cill Dara's status is still unclear and Monivea do have the right to appeal.

While I would have sympathy for the Monivea players, the club have to be held accountable for it's actions, this decision was inevitable.

[Openside]

Monivea have had their All Ireland League place dramatically taken away this week after the IRFU AIL Sub Committee upheld an objection from Waterpark RFC to the 35-3 play off defeat on April 19 and awarded the game to the Munster club.


The objection centres on the eligibility of Monivea hooker John Gavin who wasn’t correctly registered at the start of the season. The Galway club were found guilty of playing an illegal player and impersonating a player on the team sheet.


It is the second action that seems to have led to such a severe punishment. Speculation suggests that players and almost all officials were unaware of the situation until the objection was lodged, making the entire situation all the more heartbreaking for players and coaches.


At Tuesday’s hearing Waterpark also appealed against the eligibility of Liam Mitchell who was reportedly registered with an English club this season but that was dismissed on the grounds that he was properly registered in Ireland.


However the Gavin issue was deemed far more serious. The hooker came through the underage structures at Monivea but two seasons ago left to join Clontarf before transferring back this season. It appears that procedures were not properly followed in the transfer and as a result he was not registered for the season.


It is believed his name was on the team sheet for most games in the junior league season before the anomaly was noticed by at least one official in the club. At that point a decision was taken to conceal the error. This has proven very costly for the club.


Monivea have a right to appeal and are likely to do so but it now seems likely that their AIL place is gone and they will be back in Junior rugby again next season. This will have a knock on effect for Division 1A in Connacht, with OLBC relegated to Division 1B as a result


The entire Monivea side that started the contest in Waterford have come through the club’s underage structure. While some in Waterford have attempted to suggest that Galway side fielded up to four players under different names this has no basis in fact.


Up until two weeks ago rugby club from the village in the heart of Galway were celebrating their greatest ever season having bounced back from defeat to Portadown in round one to defeat, Cashel, Cill Dara and Waterpark on their way to AIL rugby. Now it appears the dream is over and some are suggesting the core of the side will be lost after this affair.


It has been suggested that Cill Dara RFC also have a case for gaining a play off with Waterpark RFC – probably in October – as it seems ridiculous to suggest that Monivea’s actions warrant the result of this game overturned and not the group game in which Monivea beat the Kildare side by one point with Gavin on the field.

[Sea_point]

According to comments on the Knock On website, Monivea have been thrown-out. Waterparks and Cill Dara's status is still unclear and Monivea do have the right to appeal.

While I would have sympathy for the Monivea players, the club have to be held accountable for it's actions, this decision was inevitable.

I agree, if they broke the rules of competition then they have to be be punished accordingly.

It's just sad after all the hard work that has been put into the club. Hopefully instead of navel-gazing and fingerpointing, it'll instead just spur them on to winning the league and qualifying directly from the Round Robins this coming season. The registration isssue is just adminstrative, but there's no doubt that they have the playing personell to qualify anyway...

[Leinsterman]

The objection centres on the eligibility of Monivea hooker John Gavin who wasn’t correctly registered at the start of the season. The Galway club were found guilty of playing an illegal player and impersonating a player on the team sheet.

Extremely foolish thing to do. If it had only been the case of the registration paperwork getting screwed up, they might have been able to appeal. However, it was utterly foolish to impersonate a player on the team sheet.

[fursey]

Waterpark had their coaches at the Monivea V Cill Dara
round robin game.They also had a video.
A club member went into the Monivea BeBo web site to wish Monivea the best of luck.
He went into the fans forum and picked out Paddy Devaneys BeBo website which had an article regarding Monivea beating Waterpark and that John Gavin had scored the 2nd try.
Team Sheets were checked which revealed that Paddy Devaneys name was at hooker and not John Gavin’s
After much investigation the truth was revealed.

The Waterpark coaches who attended the game also noticed that the No 8 who played against Cill Dara was not the same player that had played against Waterpark namely Liam Mitchell.

A person then went into Liam Mitchell’s BeBo website and in his pictures he had a picture of himself in a team photograph with Broughton Park RFC in Manchester.

The Broughton Park website was the investigated and it turns out that he had played and was a registered
Broughton Park Player 2007/2008 season.
The fact that he was residing and working in Manchester for the last 2 yrs made him ineligible to line out for Monivea as he hadn’t been residing in Ireland before the October deadline.
He had played for both Broughton Park and Monivea in the Month of November 2007.

When Monivea realised that John Gavin wasn’t registered they should have come clean and looked for speciial dispensation as this was only a clerical error, and i think they would have been ok.

Instead they falsified team sheets to cover up.

Waterpark had 3 dual status players all year and they were told they were ineligible to play against Monivea ,and they didn’t play.

What would have been the implications had John Gavin got seriously injured in any game this season as he wasn’t registered, he wasn’t insured.

Connacht Branch had nothing to do with this incident.

Finally the IRFU found in Waterpark’s favour on both
counts and not just against John Gavin as some people would have you believe.

I do feel sorry for Monivea as i know they put a lot of hard work over the last 5-6 years but they should have been more careful in running their rugby affairs.

Yours In Sport
Fkanker

Screwed by bebo!! If Waterpark were as good at rugby as sleuthing they would never have been near the dropzone.
Stupid from Monivea though. They should have fessed up at the earliest opportunity. Interview with Brian Dobson, tears etc.........

[groundhog]

By the way, Monivea's dishonesty affects a lot of clubs. For there starters there is my own club Cill Dara, the possible relegation play-off teams Ashbourne, Roscrea, Railway Union, Athy and in Connacht OLBC.

This is leaving a bitter taste in a lot of peoples mouths, what I fail to understand is why didn't Monivea just put their hands up before the Round-Robin, the IRFU requested all registered players before the series began therefore Monivea knew at that stage Gavin was not registered, that is the time to realise a clerical error has been made and to be honest and put your hand up and hopefully the IRFU will allow the player to be registered and if not so be it and have faith in your squad. Instead Monivea let the integrity of the game down, their own branch down but most importantly they let themselves down. Everyteam in that round-robin sweat blood and tears to be there, it's a lot easier for Monivea to bounce back than it will be for either Cashel or Cill Dara. No matter what the sport failure to register players is a serious offence, the integrity of the game comes above all else.