$140,000 pub lunch: Broncos cop massive fine for COVID breach
Brisbane’s pub lunch earlier this month has turned out to be very costly with the NRL issuing the Broncos and 10 players fines for breaching biosecurity protocols.
The Broncos share price jumped on the profit result. (Photo: AAP Image/Darren England)
The Broncos have been fined $75,000 and each of the 10 players fined five per cent of their salary, totalling $65,000, after the group attended a lunch at the Everton Park Hotel on August 1.
In a statement, the NRL said while the Broncos players were permitted to dine at restaurants and cafes they were not permitted to sit in pubs and gaming areas at the time of the breaches.
“It is our view that this breach involved a significant failure of the club to properly administer the league’s biosecurity protocols,” NRL acting chief executive Andrew Abdo said.
The players fined for contravening the league’s COVID-19 restrictions include regular first-graders David Fifita, Kotoni Staggs, Corey Oates, Corey Paix and Jake Turpin.
Three development players were also among the group and will have a portion of their fines suspended.
It’s the latest in a string of COVID-19 related breaches by the Broncos including Tevita Pangai Jnr’s visit to a barber shop, which was subsequently attended by police amid suspected outlaw motorcycle gang links.
While Pangai Jnr wasn’t accused of anything illegal, he has since been stood down indefinitely by the NRL and fined $30,000.
Former Brisbane player and current assistant coach Allan Langer was among three staff members to be fined and stood down after attending a private function at the Caxton Hotel.
-AAP
