Several issues are raised here. I agree with action and indeed with setting examples as I cringed with shame when it happened. What worries me is consistency.

1 What if the club does everything possible yet issues still arise? Some clubs will suffer more due to local demography and social status locally. Do you up ticket prices to keep out undesirables? Clearly not as its hardly an inclusive sport then.
2 Is the RFL going to be consistent with such matters of crowd abuse? They have opened a can of worms here over what should be fined and what shouldnt.
3 Do they really feel that a liscense application should be affected by the actions of what is probably no more than 40 people.

Well done you idiots, the club has been fined about £1000 for each one of you. It think the RFL are right, but they have to get other decisions right around it.

I don't agree with the chanting for one minute but to punish a club and everybody associated with it for a couple of idiots is wrong and I think the fine is way over the top.

This fine also sets a dangerous precedent for future fines and I can see a can of worms opened if this fine is not dropped on appeal.

You expecting a bite ?

But it also could set a dangerous precedent if the fine is dropped. I don't necessarily agree with the fine, but if it is now dropped, what would happen the next time? You can't not fine one club but then fine the next. The punishment would have to be consistant. Maybe there should have been a fine but certainly a lot lower than £40,000.

Interesting that the fine was not actually that chant were made, but in the panel's opinion, Cas did not do enough to stop it. The fact that 3 chants were heard and on 2 occasions the chants were drowned out by the PA system, what else could the club have done on the day?

It was months ago Thomas announced he was gay. Why he still has to go on TV at every possible opportunity to keep banging on about it I really don't know.

Whilst I can understand wanting to take action, the size of the fine is ridiculous. Is this the first time that particular chant has been heard at an RL ground? Course not. Perhaps what the RFL should have said is 'we will not tolerate this....except on those occasions where it is not picked up by the national media'.

This would never have happened at Harlequins.









There is never anyone there to chant anything, homophobic or otherwise.


Seriously, £40k is ridiculous and I hope the club are successful with their appeal.

Another nail in the cas coffin, merge them with Wakefield already.

£40,000 is ridiculous. It's also horrendous publicity for the sport. While it indicates we're strong on the issue, it also highlights the fact that there is an issue. Compare with Union which ignored what homophobic chanting there was.

And I think it vindicates the comments made by that presenter that everyone slagged off on here. She was right (Yorath?), league fans are inbred chavs.

I Cant wait untill the next game live on Sky when the referee's parentage or his alleged masterbating antics are called into question or chants of Gypo, You Fat bas^^^^ who ate all the pies and many many more, They will have to fine that club or else they wil be cut to pieces in court by the Cas barristers thats for sure (and thats without past chanting that can be proved to have gone off) The lunatics are in charge of the RFL im afraid

Whilst I cannot condone racist or homophobic personal insults of players I have to say that the whole situation was inflamed from the very beginning by Mr Thomas drawing huge amounts of media attention to himself and his personal situation.
Being "gay" in this day and age is not unusual and, in itself, draws less attention than it used to. One wonders why Mr Thomas choose to make this so public.
It has simply provided entertainment for the plebs of society.
Why the RFL deemed fit to make such a big fuss over a few comments at Cas is beyond me. Often one can hear hugely negative chanting over the Superleague match commentary. Nothing has been done about that and maybe it never should be.
Cas have been unfairly singled out here.
An example of a huge fuss made by one player. Not going to rise in the popularity stakes that one.

If he wants to discuss his sexuality to the media so what..maybe he see's it as an opportunity to address prejudices, hardly his fault idiots decided to chant homophobic abuse.

Maybe he should have stayed in a closet..
"Big fuss over a few comments"....God forbid!!

Here is the statement Gareth Thomas's agent has released www.distinctagency.com/news.asp

Here is the statement Gareth Thomas's agent has released www.distinctagency.com/news.asp

£20k plus £20k suspended pending good behaviour seems to be the standard for crowd misbehaviour. It's what we got last year after the incidents at the Catalans game, it's what we got this year (except we've now had to pay the £20k from last year, suspended if we could behave ourselves to the end of 2010).