NRL: Four Australian players facing fines for breaking social distancing rules
- Published
Josh Addo-Carr (pictured) and Latrell Mitchell have both played for Australia
Four players from Australia's National Rugby League are set to be fined for breaking social distancing rules.
South Sydney Rabbitohs' Latrell Mitchell and Melbourne Storm's Josh Addo-Carr face fines of AUS$50,000 (拢26,035) and Newcastle Knights' Tyrone Roberts-Davis $10,000 (拢5,205) for attending a large gathering.
Nathan Cleary from Penrith Panthers will have to pay $10,000 after being pictured on a couch with five women.
Sixty per cent of the fines will be suspended for the rest of the season, and the four will also receive suspended one-match bans.
The players, who were all accused of bringing the game into disrepute, have five days to respond to the charges before the penalties are imposed.
"The players have a responsibility to the game and community," Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'landys said.
"It is important that, in these challenging times, we all have to work together to combat COVID-19 and compliance with public health orders is a critical requirement.
"The players have to understand that they are putting the game and the community at risk by their actions."
He added: "It's certainly hard to accept such behaviour when the game is doing everything it can to persuade the community that its players are responsible and behave appropriately."
The NRL is set to restart on 28 May with a reduced 20-round competition.
The Grand Final is scheduled to take place on 25 October - just six days before the planned date of the first Test between England and Australia in Bolton.
Two rounds of the NRL had already been completed before the league was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic and results from those matches will count towards the rest of the season.