Boudjellal suspended for the season

At a disciplinary hearing the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR), who runs professional rugby in France, the president of Toulon, Mourad Boudjellal was suspended for 130 days after his outburst against what he termed sodomie arbitrale (refereeing buggery) in a wide-ranging attack aimed largely at French referees.

These attacks, made on 8 January after Toulon had lost to Clermont Auvergne, a match refereed by experienced Christophe Berdos, received wide publicity. The hearing found against Boudjellal for damage to the image of rugby and to the spirit and conduct of sport and suspended him for 130 days, i.e. till 3 June 2012 inclusive.

The suspension means that he is banned from the playing enclosure, the area between the ground and the spectators, the changing rooms of players and referees and the passages giving access to these areas.

* The same inquiry looked into the brawl involving the two teams when Agen played Biarritz on 6 January 2012. The commission found both clubs guilty and fined Agen €5 000, Biarritz €6 000. (It was not Biarritz's first such offence.)