Ballarat league apologises to Sebastopol after under-17 suspension

A major country league has been forced to apologise to one of its clubs after wrongfully suspending a junior side for three games. Here is what we know.

Sebastopol has been apologised to after one of its teams was suspended earlier this year. Picture: Hamish Blair

The Ballarat league has been forced into an embarrassing apology after wrongfully suspending the Sebastopol under-17 team following an incident in a match.

Earlier this season the under-17 side spent three games on the sidelines after being provisionally suspended by the league as it conducted an investigation following a May 5 clash against Redan.

Sebastopol took the matter to the Magistrates Court of Victoria, looking for the suspension to be lifted.

The court decision went in their favour and found the BFNL made errors in its handling of the investigation and the applying of the provisional suspension.

Sebastopol’s under-17 team returned to the field against East Point and have played four matches since, losing all four.

The loss in court prompted Ballarat league to officially apologise to Sebastopol for any damage done to the club, the under-17 players or anyone else impacted.

It sent a letter to the club on July 4.

“The Ballarat FNL acknowledge that the league did deny the Sebastopol FNC procedural fairness in investigating the manner and in suspending the Sebastopol under-17 team prior to the completion of the AFL Victoria investigation the league made errors and acted outside of our rules and regulations,” the letter said.

“The league is aware that this had a detrimental impact on the Sebastopol FNC and its players, coaches, members and sponsors and the Ballarat FNL do apologise for this and the stress, anxiety and impact this had on the club and in particular the under-17 player involved.

“We acknowledge that this error in not following due process has caused damage to the reputation of the Sebastopol FNC and for this we also apologise.”

Ballarat league added it looked forward to working together with Sebastopol in a productive manner going forward and all parties are working together to make sure netball and football is played in a safe and fun environment.