Six Australian rugby professionals found to be working in the UK illegally

August 19 2009 by Mark Johnstone

Rugby League stars without UK visas

UK immigration is set to deport six Australian rugby league players after it was found that they were working in the UK illegally.

The Celtic Crusaders’ Jace van Dijk Josh Hannay, Tony Duggan, Damien Quinn, Darren Mapp and Mark Dalle Cort have been told they must leave the UK by 7 September. They were all found to not be in possession of vaild UK visas.

The UK Border Agency released a statement saying, "As the result of an intelligence-led investigation into possible immigration offences among players at Celtic Crusaders, we can confirm that six Australian nationals have been served with papers confirming that they are illegally present in the UK."

All six have pleaded guilty to keeping their intention to work in the UK a secret when applying for their student visas and holiday visas. Their contracts with the Crusaders have been cancelled and none of the men is permitted to work in the UK for the next ten years.

If the players fail to leave within the set time frame, they will be forcibly removed, says the Border Agency.

Celtic Crusader’s chief executive, Mike Turner says, “We are sorry to be losing players who have made a big contribution in making Celtic Crusaders a Super League club.” He adds that the team may now take on some Welsh youngsters.

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