French club side Agen have been banned from European competition for the next two seasons after being found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute.
A European Rugby Cup Ltd disciplinary panel this evening upheld a complaint that Agen had ‘contrived to achieve a particular result’ and banned the club for the 2002/03 and 2003/04 seasons.
The ERC also imposed a fine of €20,000 of the French side.
The match in question was their Parker Pen Shield group match at Ebbw Vale last month, a game Agen lost by the substantial margin of 59-12. The fact that Ebbw Vale outscored their visitors by nine tries to one was enough to take the Welsh side through to the knockout stages at Agen’s expense.
Victory alone would not have been enough for Vale.
It was alleged after the match that Agen had thrown the match in order to concentrate their efforts on the domestic campaign in France. The claims were supported in various press reports where Agen players and officials were quoted saying they had lost deliberately.
An ERC statement released this evening confirmed: "The disciplinary committee, chairman Peter Boyle (Ireland), Jack Kirwan (Ireland) and Mike Dickson (England) upheld the misconduct complaint that the Agen club contrived to achieve a particular result thereby bringing the Parker Pen Shield tournament and the game of rugby into disrepute."
Agen have the right of appeal.