Celtic Crusaders fined heavily for UK work visa failure
December 03 2009 by Liam Clifford
Rugby team fall foul of the law concerning UK work visas.
Welsh
rugby team the Celtic Crusaders has been fined a huge £60,000 for a UK working visa
fiasco that led to six of its players being sent home early from their stint at
the club.
The players in question, Tony Duggan, Darren Mapp, Damien
Quinn, Mark Dalle, Jace van Dijk and Josh Hannay, were all deported in August.
They were all found to have breached their UK visa entry terms last
year.
After an investigation by the UK immigration department, it has
concluded that the club should not be liable for legal proceedings. However, it
will be expected to pay the hefty civil penalty notice.
The fine is based
on £10,000 for each player who was employed without the correct UK visas to
enable them to work in the UK.
The Rugby Football League says it is now
in the position where it can undertake its own investigations into the matter.
The investigation is set to be an extremely important one for rugby league,
which employs many overseas players to join UK teams on the proviso of them obtaining a UK work visa. Any ruling made as a
result of the investigation could have knock-on effects on the game.
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