Harlequins Retain Heineken Cup Place

The European Rugby Cup has decided against throwing Harlequins out of this season’s Heineken Cup following the high-profile fake blood substitution scandal although it may still press forward with alternative action.

The ERC board of organisers said it approved of the bans and fines already handed out in the wake of the revelations which began when replacement Tom Williams used a fake blood capsule to engineer a blood substitution in last season’s quarter-final against Leinster.

However the ERC board will meet again next week to consider the possibility of further action against individuals at Harlequins involved in the matter.

Harlequins qualified for this season’s tournament courtesy of finishing second in last season’s Guinness Premiership.

After an initial cover-up Williams came clean and saw an original year-long ban reduced to four months, while director of rugby Dean Richards was banned for three years and physio Steph Brennan for two.

Harlequins were fined £259,000 but will be relieved to have escaped being thrown out of the Heineken Cup, which is the premier European competition in club rugby union and a valuable source of income for clubs that take part in it.

It is understood that the club’s under pressure chief executive Mark Evans feared losing about £1.5m in revenues if Harlequins had been thrown out of this season’s tournament which could have led to the club going under.

The ERC board said it ‘fully accepted the decisions and sanctions’ and added that it believed ‘the robust nature of the independent disciplinary system utilised for ERC tournaments has provided a fair and professional disciplinary process for all parties involved’.

But the board added it was concerned by many issues that had been raised during the disciplinary process and ‘their implications for the wider game’.

In order to discuss these issues, the board will meet again on 8th September. It may then ask the ERC disciplinary officer to look into both matters that have already been raised as well as issues not so far dealt with, ‘with a view to considering any further misconduct complaints’.