Australian Rugby Scandal Humiliates Matthew Johns

The rugby scandal is about a group sex in a hotel room that involved players of Australian National Rugby League. The players are from the Cronulla Sharks.

The rugby sex scandal actually happened in 2002, but was surfaced on Monday. ABC Australia reports that "on Monday night ABC1's Four Corners program revealed Mr Johns and other Cronulla Sharks players had sex with a 19-year-old woman in a Christchurch hotel in 2002."

Cronulla Sharks Chairman Barry Pierce just released the following statement addressing the rugby scandal involving his team players.

Here is the statement below

“The Cronulla club looks back on the events of 2002 with a sense of shame and extends its sympathies to the young lady in Christchurch.
Matthew Johns has been man enough to apologise for his actions and so too should all involved. I look back now appreciating that more should have been done on our part.

In 2002, the players and team management fully cooperated with New Zealand Police

As Chairman, my only involvement was an instruction to all players and all officials that they cooperate fully in every way and that they tell the entire truth. I was rightly not a part of that process but was assured that this in fact had happened and that the police believed our players had been honest and forthright.

I was contacted and assured by Inspector John Doyle of the Christchurch Police that after examination of the statements and interviewing all personnel that no charges would be laid. In hindsight, we all now appreciate more should have been done.

The club has worked harder than anyone to send the right message and that it has taken strong decisions to dismiss or suspended key players in support of that message.

I have supported the NRL Board in the many changes it has made since 2004 in the area of educating (and where necessary punishing) players and I share the public’s outrage at some of the events that have involved individuals in the game.

The club is not in a position to publish the names of those interviewed by the New Zealand Police. There is simply not enough information at our disposal to avoid the risk of implicating those whose only involvement was to be on the same tour, in the same hotel or who entered a room unwittingly and walked away without understanding what was going on.

It would be incredibly damaging to an ex player or staff member to be named who had nothing to do with the incident.

Certainly the club is a very different organisation today than it was then and I have had a role in driving that change.

I cannot undo what has been done and I again apologise on behalf of the club to the young lady involved for her suffering.”

The club will be making no further comment at this stage.