Saturday 8 February 2020 07:02, UK
Saracens have been fined €50,000 (£42,400) after fielding an ineligible player in their Champions Cup win over Racing 92.
Saracens - who will be relegated from the Premiership this season as a consequence of breaking salary cap rules - named prop Titi Lamositele in their decisive Champions Cup pool stage win over the French club last month.
The decision was made at an independent disciplinary hearing in London and sees €25,000 of the fine suspended until the end of the 2020/21 season.
The committee accepted that the club was not aware that Lamositele's work permit had expired and that Saracens had not sought to gain any unfair advantage by selecting the player, who came on as a 60th-minute replacement in the match.
Chair of the independent disciplinary committee, Roger Morris, said: "Following careful consideration of a complaint involving a player who has been contracted to Saracens since 2014, and who remains contracted to the club, the committee believes that this was an unfortunate sequence of events brought about by an administrative oversight.
"However, Saracens are in breach of the disciplinary rules of the Heineken Champions Cup, and that breach constitutes misconduct which can be proportionately dealt with by way of a financial penalty."
Saracens finished second in their Champions Cup group last month to secure an away quarter-final at Leinster on April 4, a match which will now go ahead.
