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Anyone with the time and inclination to get still shots of these offending items from the telecast?
Was pretty sure of the ones I saw covered I couldn't make out any logo etc???
Maybe they have to pay for the reduced Welsh and Scottish ticket sales somehow...
Costly sponsorship row comes to head
From Peter Jenkins in Montpellier, France
September 24, 2007
AUSTRALIA may be fined more than $25,000 as part of a blitz on unauthorised sponsor logos worn by players at the Rugby World Cup.
Rookie five-eighth Berrick Barnes and second row Dan Vickerman are at the centre of the controversy after wearing headgear during the opening pool match against Japan that tournament bosses claim did not meet regulations.
Barnes blacked out the manufacturer's name on his skullcap while Vickerman taped over the logo on his for the match at Stade de Gerland in Lyon.
Rugby World Cup officials nevertheless sent the Australian camp a "please explain", saying the logos on the head protection worn by the two players was still visible. The officials have organised a telephone hook-up across four countries to hear the case late last week.
Wallabies team manager Phil Thomson confirmed last night that an investigation had taken place and a finding was expected within days.
He refused to comment any further.
The inquiry is understood to have lasted 40 minutes, conducted by a three-man judiciary panel scattered across major European cities.
The tribunal was chaired by a QC in Paris. Joining him on the line was a London-based judge and a professor living in Dublin. The Wallabies' evidence was delivered via Thomson from the team hotel in Montpellier and the Australian Rugby Union's lawyer in Sydney.
Two nations competing at the Rugby World Cup have already been fined over the same alleged breach.
The Argentine Rugby Union, which has long struggled for financial security, is understood to have been slugged more than $35,000 after three players were found to have worn headgear with exposed logos in the opening match of the tournament against France.
The French union is also said to have been fined around $12,500 over an indiscretion.
ARU officials are believed to have fought the charges laid against Barnes and Vickerman, claiming the International Rugby Board has sent out mixed messages over the past 18 months on whether blackening out or taping over logos would be acceptable.
To avoid further drama, members of the Wallabies management team cut the logo out of Barnes' headgear with a Stanley knife before the crucial pool match against Wales in Cardiff last week.
Vickerman wore new headgear, provided by the manufacturer, with the sponsor's name already removed.
"It's all about the commercial obligations teams have to meet to play in the tournament," an insider suggested.
"But they do seem to be taking this to extremes."
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Originally Posted by hopep
