- Michael Cheika has managed Leicester for two games and already been banned
- He has been punished for disrespecting a doctor in his first match in charge
Leicester Tigers coach Michael Cheika has been hit with a ban for disrespecting the matchday doctor on his first game in charge of the club.
The Australian was pulled in front of a disciplinary panel after the club’s round-one victory over Exeter for confronting the independent doctor about the Immediate Player Removal process.
Cheika has been handed a two-match ban, although one match has been suspended until the end of the season.
Richard Whittam KC, independent disciplinary panel chair said: ‘Then panel found that Michael Cheika disrespected the Independent Match Day Doctor in challenging the decision he had made that a player was subject to an IPR (Immediate Permanent Removal).
‘Although it was an unusual case because there was a lack of clarity about the decisions made about the head injuries, the decisions of the Independent Match Day Doctor must be respected. In this particular case, the appropriate sanction was one of two weeks. The panel mitigated this by suspending one week until the end of the season.’
Michael Cheika has been hit with a two-game ban – one suspended – for disrespecting a matchday doctor
He has been punished for his behaviour during his first game in charge of Leicester Tigers
Leicester centre Solomone Kata was sent off for a dangerous tackle during the match.
The written judgement at Kata’s disciplinary hearing revealed the doctor missed footage of ‘obvious on-field signs of concussion’ that should have led to his removal from the pitch prior to the sending off.