NRL gives all-clear to Broncos and David Fifita over Bali incident
Brisbane Broncos and David Fifita have been given the all-clear by the NRL over an incident in Bali.
Brisbane Broncos and David Fifita have been given the all-clear by the NRL over an incident in Bali in November that resulted in the 19-year-old boom forward spending time in a jail cell.
The NRL on Thursday afternoon confirmed that it had completed its investigation into the incident and elected not to take any further action against Fifita because the evidence relating to the incident was inconclusive.
The NRL also said it was satisfied with the actions of the Broncos given the circumstances. Fifita was arrested amid allegations that he hit a security guard outside La Favela nightclub in Seminyak.
The news will be a relief to Fifita and the Broncos. The club flew one of their welfare offices to Bali to broker a peace agreement with the security guard who made the allegations against Fifita.
NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg said it was important the game made evidence-based decisions about player behaviour.
“It is important that our determinations are based on the evidence before us,” Greenberg said.
“In this case, after analysing a multitude of evidence we cannot say with certainty that a breach has occurred.”
Fifita has one year remaining on his existing deal with the Broncos but is expected to sign an extension with the club in the new year.
He was among the most coveted players to hit the open market on November 1 but it is understood rival clubs have cooled their interest after being told he was ready to extend his stay at the Broncos.
Broncos chief executive Paul White welcomed the NRL’s decision and confirmed the Broncos would not be handing down any club-based penalty to Fifita.
White said the club had co-operated fully with the integrity unit as soon as the issue came to light, with all players and club officials involved in the incident participating in lengthy interviews and willingly providing a range of material including mobile phone records.
“We are satisfied with the NRL’s decision on this matter – David will pull on a Broncos jersey to play round (one) and we feel that is a fair result for him and for the club,” White said.
“We trust David’s version of events in that he did not commit an assault, but we understand that the integrity unit had a job to do.
“We have respected that process from the very start and co-operated every step of the way. As a club, our main focus was to ensure David returned home safely and we were able to work together to achieve that – and the NRL has found that we acted appropriately in at-times challenging circumstances.”
The Broncos board commissioned an independent review of the club’s handling of the incident – including the actions of the players and officials – in the interests of corporate governance.
The review, conducted by an independent Brisbane law firm, also endorsed the club’s handling of the issue – that report was handed on to the integrity unit as part of the investigation.
White said the club would take time to consider the integrity unit’s report on the matter before making any further comment.