After sending abusive Facebook messages to a television match official of a 2023 Rugby World Cup game, an Aussie bloke has become the first person convicted for the ill-treatment of a referee online.
Aaron Isaia is the perpetrator in the historic criminal case. The 22-year-old harrassed TMO Brian MacNeice and his wife, with Stuff reporting that the couple’s children were mentioned in the online messages.
MacNeice was the TMO for the Samoa vs England Pool D match at the ‘23 RWC. During the game, the Pacific Island nation was denied a try for a controversial knock-on ruling that MacNeice made. England ended up winning 18 - 17.
Isaia was officially charged with using a carriage service to menace or harass via online communication and received a NZ$1,095 12-month suspended fine, meaning he may not have to pay some or all of it if certain conditions are met.
World Rugby Chief Executive Alan Gilpin calls it an important moment for the sport and reckons fans have gotten away with horrible behaviour towards refs for far too long.
“World Rugby welcomes this landmark outcome,” he said. “The vile and toxic abuse is an all too common occurrence for many sportsmen and women and public figures.”
“We hope that this sends a very strong message to online trolls that such behaviour is totally unacceptable and that the sport and the authorities are prepared to take action.”
Last year, Wayne Barnes retired from refereeing after he held the whistle in the RWC Final. In an interview with BBC, he revealed that people made “threats of violence” against him and his loved ones.
Earlier in 2023, Kiwi ref Ben O’Keefe shared the abuse he received after manning the Super Rugby final.
“As a union referee at the highest level, I have had to accept and grow accustomed to the post-match vitriol that fans normalise post-game,” he said in an Instagram post sharing screenshots of messages from ‘fans’.
As much as you can hate a call, abusing a ref is never okay and it’s good to see they now have support from the justice system.
