Citing commissioner
Encyclopedia
In rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

, a citing commissioner is an independent official, appointed by the competition organizer, the union in which the match is taking place, or the International Rugby Board
International Rugby Board
The International Rugby Board is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. It was founded in 1886 as the International Rugby Football Board by the unions of Scotland, Wales and Ireland. England refused to join until 1890. The International Rugby Football Board changed its name to the...

, who is responsible for citing players who commit foul play which is not detected by the match officials.

Teams may bring offences to the attention of the citing commissioner for review. The citing commissioner may cite a player even if the referee
Referee
A referee is the person of authority, in a variety of sports, who is responsible for presiding over the game from a neutral point of view and making on the fly decisions that enforce the rules of the sport...

 has already dealt with the issue (except where he has ordered a player from the field). When there is no citing commissioner, the teams participating in the match have the right to cite players, but may only cite a player for an infringement which the match officials have not dealt with.

A player who is cited is called to a hearing to show cause why he should not be treated as having been sent off for the alleged offence. The player is entitled to be represented. The hearing usually takes place before three independent persons nominated by the union or the competition organizer, and is generally convened within a week of the match in question. If the offence is proven, the panel issues a penalty, usually in the form of a suspension for a number of weeks.

There is disagreement on the fairness of citing, as a player who is cited is liable to receive a ban from all competitions for several weeks if found guilty, despite the fact that if the offence was detected during the match, he would have been likely to have received a caution and temporary suspension (yellow card) rather than being sent off.
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