4 August 2023
OFFICIAL CLUB STATEMENT – POINTS INVESTIGATION APPEAL UPDATE
Dear All
Just to update you on the VAFA points investigation.
As you may recall the VAFA determined that the BFC allegedly exceeded its allocated player points total in our round 11 and 12 Senior Men’s team matches. This involved system and administrative errors on the part of the BFC and VAFA that resulted in an u19 player playing in the senior team in those games being deemed ineligible. Further and importantly by way of context the BFC contends that the playing of that u19’s player in our senior team in no way gave us an advantage over other B-Grade teams.
VAFA imposed sanctions which included stripping us of the premiership points for the St Bernards win and the points scored in both the St Bedes / Mentone and St Bernards games.
An appeal was lodged by the BFC which was heard last Wednesday by VAFA’s Independent Integrity Hearing Panel (IIHP), the hearing was conducted in a fair and reasonable manner.
During the hearing the VAFA confirmed to the panel that they did not believe the conduct of Beaumaris to be in any way deliberate or intentional in this matter which is core as it goes to our integrity.
The BFC is currently formalizing its next step of appeal on the grounds that the sanctions imposed are manifestly excessive and that given the unintentional nature of the alleged breach, consideration should have been given to the severity of the sanctions provided.
I would like to acknowledge the significant contributions of Adam Coote, Sean Coote (Committee), Nicki Spencer (VP-Committee ) in defending the club in this matter. I will keep you posted of developments.
Yours sincerely
Nicholas Heath
Nick Heath
President
Beaumaris Football Club