Kurtley Beale avoids punishment over leaked video
Kurtley Beale has escaped sanction from Rugby Australia after he was captured laughing at a man snorting white powder from a video taken in 2016 by NRL star Corey Norman.
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Kurtley Beale has escaped sanction from Rugby Australia after he was captured laughing at a man snorting white powder from a video taken in 2016 by NRL star Corey Norman.
The Wallabies playmaker was seen with Norman in a luxury hotel room while another man snorted the white substance off a plate.
Beale is captured laughing in the video, which was taken in 2016 and was allegedly used as part of a blackmail attempt to extort money from Norman after it leaked.
While Norman escaped penalties from the NRL, who investigated the matter three years ago, Beale’s involvement was unknown until the video re-emerged on Monday and hit the news.
Beale phoned RA chief executive Raelene Castle when the video became public to apologise, and told integrity unit officials on Monday morning that he did not partake in the use of illicit substances that day.
“Rugby Australia only became aware of the vision after it had surfaced on social media on Monday afternoon and understands that it was recorded in 2016,” Castle said.
“After becoming aware that the vision was being shared on social media, Kurtley contacted me to apologise for the negative attention the video had attracted and expressed regret at putting himself in a compromising position at that time.
“Kurtley has met with Rugby Australia’s integrity unit to provide his version of events and the high standards that are expected of him as a professional Rugby player have been firmly reiterated.
“Kurtley acknowledges that his presence in the video and the humour he expressed at the incident at the time does not reflect the image that is expected of a professional Rugby player.”
Beale was at the centre of a bitter row at the end of the spring tour late last year when he and teammate Adam Ashley-Cooper were suspended for the Test match against England for breaching team rules.
The pair were stood down by coach Michael Cheika for bringing women, including Ashley-Cooper’s sister-in-law, to their hotel room in Wales two weeks prior, which was against internal team rules set by players.
Nothing untoward happened during the evening, Castle said, and the suspension cost Beale the chance to wear the Wallabies’ indigenous jersey at Twickenham, the first time the uniform had been worn on foreign soil.
It later emerged that teammates had initially been unhappy that Beale and Ashley-Cooper had not been sanctioned, when during the Argentina tour winger Sefanaia Naivalu had been sent home for a disciplinary breach of tea rules.
During the match at Twickenham, England prop Kyle Sinckler labelled the Wallabies as “snitches”, a sledge caught on the referees’ microphone that was part of the broadcast.
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Originally published as Kurtley Beale avoids punishment over leaked video
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