AFL Northern Territory (AFLNT) advises the independent Tribunal sat tonight, Wednesday 26 February, to hear two charges from the senior grades of Finals Week 1 of the 2019/20 TIO NTFL.
Men's Premier League
Jason Puruntatameri, of the Tiwi Bombers Football Club, appeared before the independent Tribunal to answer the charge of striking player number 27 from St Mary’s Football Club in the first quarter of the TIO NTFL Men’s Premier League match between St Mary’s and the Tiwi Bombers at TIO Stadium on Saturday 22 February 2020.
Puruntatameri entered a plea of not guilty.
Upon evidence from the umpire and the offending player, the Tribunal determined that the incident was the result of the victim player changing direction and therefore changed the conduct classification from intentional to careless and found that Puruntatameri was guilty of careless conduct, low impact and high contact.
In summary, the Tribunal sanctioned Puruntatameri with a reprimand given the regrading took place.
Matthew Kantilla, of the Tiwi Bombers Football Club, appeared before the independent Tribunal to answer the charge of striking player number 11 from St Mary’s Football Club in the fourth quarter of the TIO NTFL Men’s Premier League match between St Mary’s and the Tiwi Bombers at TIO Stadium on Saturday 22 February 2020.
Upon a review of the video evidence and taking into consideration the statement provided by Kantilla, as well as his young age and experience, the AFLNT Reporting Officer and Tiwi Bombers Advocate agreed to amend the conduct from intentional to being careless.
The Tribunal accepted the amended classification to be careless conduct, low impact and high contact, to which Kantilla pleaded guilty.
In summary, the Tribunal sanctioned Kantilla with a reprimand given the regrading took place.
Appeals Process
Offending clubs (alleged) and/or the Controlling Body have until 5pm Thursday 13 February to lodge an appeal in writing to the AFLNT Football Operations team. The grounds for appeal under the 2019 State and Territory Tribunal Guidelines are as follows:
4.3 Grounds for Appeal
Except where otherwise determined by the Controlling Body, a Person found guilty of a Reportable Offence by the Tribunal, or the Controlling Body may only appeal to the Appeal Board in respect of a decision made by the Tribunal under these Guidelines on one or more of the following grounds:
(a) that there was an error of law;
(b) that the decision was so unreasonable that no Tribunal acting reasonably could have come to that decision having regard to the evidence before it;
(c) the classification of the level of the offence was manifestly excessive or inadequate; or
(d) that the sanction imposed was manifestly excessive or inadequate.
