Qld Firebirds fined, signing rule breach

Ed Jackson |

The Queensland Firebirds have been fined $10,000 for breaching competition rules during the Super Netball 2022 player signing period.

A review by the league’s compliance manager found the Firebirds had offered “additional services agreements” as part of letters of offer to several players.

The fine includes $5000 suspended with Super Netball officials acknowledging it was the Firebirds’ first breach and the organisation had cooperated during the review.

The Firebirds labelled the breach “procedural” with chief executive Kate Davies saying structures had since been put in place to prevent future breaches.

“”Our intentions are to always operate with integrity by respecting the rules and processes in place,” Davies said.

It’s not the first competition breach in Super Netball history with West Coast Fever starting last season with a 12-point deduction for historical salary cap breaches.

The Fever were also fined $300,000 for the breaches which were discovered in 2020 and involved six-figure payments over the competition’s salary cap in 2018 and 2019.

Despite the points handicap, the Fever still made last year’s finals series.

AAP