Group 19 Rugby League player Sam Abraham is free to return to the sport after NSW Rugby League overturned his 24 match ban.
According to the Inverell Times, the Walcha Roos centre was found guilty last month for an alleged racial slur during the Round 16 match against the Tingha Tigers, where Abraham allegedly directed the slur to opposing player Brennan Cosgrove after a brief scuffle broke out.
However, after an appeal was launched by the Roos club, NSWRL judiciary member Daniel McKinnon overturned the ban, sighting his reasons as there was very little evidence of the slur occurring and therefore not enough to support the charge, with McKinnon going on to say that essentially, there was only one witness that supported the prosecution case, which was the complainant.
McKinnon also questioned the Group 19’s judiciary process whereby after reviewing match footage, they relied on the circumstantial evidence of the presence of a melee and reactions from players to find the appellant guilty, however the panel did not refer to any evidence in the proceedings other than the complainant’s that led to the panel to make a finding of guilt.
