Anti-match-fixing policy template
Disciplinary process
6.1 Commencement of proceedings
- The Hearing Panel must comprise three persons independent of the Sport and with appropriate skills and experience appointed by the Board for such time and for such purposes as the Board thinks fit. The Board will appoint one of the members of the Hearing Panel to act as its Secretary.
The independence and skill set of Hearings Panel members is important in giving the process credibility and reducing the risk of appeals.
- On receipt of a referral from the Board of an actual or suspected contravention of this Policy by an Alleged Offender, the Secretary of the Hearing Panel must issue a notice to the Alleged Offender detailing:
- the alleged offence including details of when and where it is alleged to have occurred
- the date, time and place for the proposed hearing of the alleged offence which shall be as soon as reasonably practicable after the Alleged Offender receives the Notice
- iii. information advising the Alleged Offender of their rights and format of proceedings
- the potential penalties in the event that the Hearing Panel makes a finding that the Alleged Offender engaged in the Prohibited Conduct
- a copy of the referral from the Board and any documentary or other evidence that was submitted to the Hearing Panel by the Board in relation to the alleged Prohibited Conduct by the Alleged Offender. (‘the Notice’).
- Within fourteen business days of the date of the Notice, the Alleged Offender must notify the Hearing Panel in writing of:
- whether or not he or she wishes to contest the allegations, and
- if the Alleged Offender does not wish to contest the allegations and accedes to the imposition of penalty, he or she may so notify the Hearing Panel in writing, in which case no hearing shall be conducted and the Hearing Panel will remit the matter to the Board for the Board’s consideration and imposition of a penalty, or
- if the Alleged Offender does not wish to contest the allegations, but wishes to make submissions disputing and/or seeking to mitigate the penalty, he or she may must notify the Hearing Panel either:
- that he or she wishes to make those submissions at a hearing before the Hearing Panel, in which case, the Hearing will proceed in accordance with clause 6.2 below, or
- that he or she wishes to make those submission in writing, in which case the Hearing Panel will, on receipt of those submissions, remit the matter to the Board for the Board’s consideration and imposition of a penalty (giving due consideration to those written submissions)
- If the Alleged Offender does not admit or denies the alleged Prohibited Conduct and notifies the Hearing Panel that he or she wishes to contest the allegations, the Alleged Offender, is, by that notice, taken to have consented to the determination of the allegations in accordance with the procedure outlined in this Policy, and if the Hearing Panel finds that the Alleged Offender breached this Policy including by engaging in Prohibited Conduct, to the imposition of a penalty.
- If the Alleged Offender fails to respond to the Notice within fourteen business days of the date of the Notice, the Alleged Offender shall be deemed to have:
- waived their entitlement to a hearing in accordance with this Policy, and
- admitted to the Prohibited Conduct specified in the Notice, and
- acceded to the imposition of a penalty by the Board, and
- the Hearing Panel will remit the Alleged Offender’s Prohibited Conduct to the Board, informing the Board , by notice in writing, of the Alleged Offender’s failure to respond to the Notice and requesting the Board to impose a penalty in the Board’s Discretion in accordance with this clause.
- Notwithstanding any of the above, an Alleged Offender shall be entitled at any stage to admit they have engaged in the Prohibited Conduct specified in the Notice and to accede to penalties determined by the Board.
- Personnel covered by the Sport or a Member Organisation Employee Collective Agreement will be subject to relevant Clauses, including Dispute, Hearings, Appeals and Termination Clauses contained in such Agreement, and if applicable the Fair Work Act 2009 (Australia).
6.2 Procedure of the hearing panel
- This clause applies if the Alleged Offender contests the allegation(s) that he or she has engaged in the Prohibited Conduct specified in the Notice, and there is a hearing of the allegations by the Hearing Panel.
- The purpose of the hearing shall be to determine whether the Alleged Offender has engaged in the Prohibited Conduct specified in the Notice and, if the Hearing Panel considers that the Alleged Offender has engaged in Prohibited Conduct, for the imposition any penalty in the Hearing Panel’s discretion.
- The Hearing Panel may conduct the hearing as it sees fit and, in particular, shall not be bound by the rules of evidence or unnecessary formality. The Hearing Panel must determine matters in accordance with the principles of procedural fairness, such as a hearing appropriate to the circumstances; lack of bias; inquiry into matters in dispute; and evidence to support a decision.
- The hearing shall be inquisitorial in nature and the Hearing Panel may call such evidence as it thinks fit in its discretion and all Relevant Persons subject to this Policy must, if requested to do so by the Hearing Panel, provide such evidence as they are able.
This allows the Hearing Panel to be actively involved in the hearing (i.e. asking questions of the Alleged Offender and the Sport).
- The hearing must be conducted with as much expedition as a proper consideration of the matters permit. However, the Hearing Panel may adjourn the proceedings for such reasonable time as it considers it necessary.
- Notwithstanding the above, the Alleged Offender:
- Is permitted to be represented at the hearing (at their own expense).
- May call and question witnesses.
- Has the right to address the Hearing Panel to make their case.
- Is permitted to provide written submissions for consideration by the Hearing Panel (instead of or as well as appearing in person). If the Alleged Offender provides any written submissions, the Hearing Panel must consider those submissions in its deliberations.
- The hearing shall be closed to the public. Only persons with a legitimate interest in the hearing will be permitted to attend. This will be at the sole discretion of the Hearing Panel.
- The Hearing Panel must determine whether the Alleged Offender engaged in the Prohibited Conduct on the balance of probabilities.
- The decision of the Hearing Panel shall be a majority decision and must be recorded in writing. The decision must, at a minimum, set out and explain:
- the Hearing Panel’s findings, on the balance of probabilities and by reference to the evidence presented or submissions made, as to whether the Alleged Offender engaged in Prohibited Conduct, and
- if the Hearing Panel makes a finding that the Alleged Offender engaged in Prohibited Conduct, what, if any, penalties it considers appropriate.
- Subject only to the rights of appeal under clause 6.3, the Hearing Panel’s decision shall be the full, final and complete disposition of the allegations of Prohibited Conduct by the Alleged Offender and will be binding on all parties.
- If the Alleged Offender or their representative does not appear at the hearing, after proper notice of the hearing has been provided, the Hearing Panel may proceed with the hearing in their absence.
6.3 Appeals
- The Alleged Offender, the Sport and/or the Member Organisations have a right to appeal the decision of the Hearing Panel.
- The available grounds of appeal are:
- where the decision of the Hearing Panel is wrong having regard to the application of this Policy or the Code of Conduct
- where new evidence has become available
- where natural justice has been denied, or
- in respect of the penalty imposed.
- A notice of appeal must be made in writing, lodged with the Board, through the Sport’s Chief Executive Officer, within fourteen business days of the Hearing Panel’s decision. The notice of appeal must specify the grounds for the appeal.
- Where the Board receives a notice of appeal, the Board must convene an appeal tribunal for the purposes of hearing the appeal (‘the Appeal Tribunal’). Any hearing of the appeal must be held within thirty days of the notice of appeal being received by the Board.
- Any decision of the Hearing Panel that is appealed to the Appeal Tribunal will remain in effect while under appeal unless the Board orders otherwise.
- The Appeal Tribunal must be appointed by the Board for such time and for such purposes as the Board thinks fit and must:
- be comprised of three Persons independent of the Sport with appropriate skills and experience to hear the matter
- include at least one person who has considerable previous experience in the legal aspects of a disciplinary/hearings tribunal and dispute resolution, and
- not include any members from the initial Hearing Panel.
It is important for the Appeal Tribunal to be independent and suitably skilled, to bring confidence in all Relevant Persons they will receive a fair hearing.
- The hearing before the Appeal Tribunal is not a rehearing of the matter, but a hearing of the issue under appeal only.
- The Appeal Tribunal may conduct the appeal as it sees fit. However, any party to the appeal can be represented at and make written and oral submissions to the Appeal Tribunal subject to the discretion of the Appeal Tribunal.
- The Appeal Tribunal may, in its discretion:
- affirm the decision of the Hearing Panel and the penalty imposed
- affirm the decision of the Hearing Panel but decide to impose an alternative penalty, or
- revoke the decision of the Hearing Panel and the penalty imposed.
- The decision of the Appeal Tribunal shall be a majority decision and must be recorded in writing. The Appeal Tribunal and be communicated to the Sport’s Chief Executive Officer and appellant as soon as practicable.
- The decision of Appeal Tribunal shall be final, non-reviewable, non-appealable and enforceable. No claim, arbitration, lawsuit or litigation concerning the dispute shall be brought in any other court or tribunal. Note: This provision does not prevent any law enforcement agency taking action.
- If a Relevant Person admits they engaged in Prohibited Conduct or there is a finding that a Relevant Person has engaged in conduct that is Prohibited Conduct under this Policy or the Code of Conduct, the Board, the Hearing Panel or the Appeal Tribunal, as the case may be, may order that the Relevant Person:
- be fined
- be suspended from participating in any Competition or Event connected with the Sport
- be banned from participating in any Competition or Event connected with the Sport
- be reprimanded for their involvement in the Prohibited Conduct
- lose accreditation to continue their involvement in the Sport
- be ineligible, for life, from participating in any Competition or Event connected with the Sport or from any other involvement in the Sport
- be counselled and/or required to complete a course of education related to responsible gambling and harm minimisation, or
- subject to the terms and conditions of any contract between the Sport and the Relevant Person, have that contract terminated.
- Notwithstanding the provisions of clause 7.1, the Board, the Hearing Panel or the Appeal Tribunal may impose any other such penalty as they consider appropriate in their discretion.
- In addition to the penalties set out above, the Board, the Hearing Panel or the Appeal Tribunal may impose any combination of these penalties in their absolute discretion taking account of the gravity of the Prohibited Conduct.
- Further, the Board, the Hearing Panel or the Appeal Tribunal may, depending on the circumstances of the Prohibited Conduct, suspend the imposition of a penalty in their absolute discretion.
- All fines received pursuant to this Policy must be remitted to the Sport for use by the Sport for the development of integrity programs or as otherwise deemed appropriate.
This clause is subject to any legal rights a Relevant Person may have, such as the ability to appeal a matter to a superior Court through applicable legislation or common law.