ERC makes an example of Attoub

Wednesday 20 January 2010
Published By:
Heineken Cup > Stade de France

It seems rugby's governing bodies are finally showing some bite instead of just barking at players over serious offences, with David Attoub handed a 70-week ban for gouging.

The Stade Francais prop was found guilty of making contact with the eye of Ulster flanker Stephen Ferris back in December and now won't be able to play until April 22nd of next year.

Independent judicial officer Jeff Blackett described the incident as the "worst act of contact with the eyes that I have had to deal with: it is a case of deliberate eye gouging".

Yet Attoub is still claiming he's innocent, with the club planning to make an appeal and coach Jacques Delmas accusing the ERC of being stuck in the Hundred Years War.

Fortunately he appears to have dropped the laughable defence that the photos of the incident had been doctored, a claim that recently won him Planet Rugby's General Ripper Award for conspiracy theory.

Posted by Ben Welch