Bowls New Zealand has banned the Browns Bay triples team for a year after it failed to front for the final of the New Zealand Club Championships in Dunedin in March.
The team of Neil Fisher, Colin Rogan and John Walker defaulted the game and gave up the opportunity to claim a national title so the players could catch a booked flight home instead.
The final was delayed for 90 minutes because of a rain interruption but, at a hearing last month, the judiciary found the men had breached Bowls New Zealand’s code of conduct for national events by failing to make a reasonable effort to play in the final and had brought BNZ and the Browns Bay Bowling Club into disrepute.
The men have been suspended from all BNZ events and all championship events at any club of which they may be members until June 21, 2018. They are also required to issue apologies.
Rogan said the men felt the process had been fair. However, they were "very unhappy with the outcome".
"We feel the banning of an amateur team for 12 months for defaulting a game is pretty harsh," he said.
"We thought we had allowed sufficient time to complete the event and get back to Auckland on the flight in the afternoon.
"Of course, the rain put the whole programme back and that was the factor that caused us to default the final."
BNZ chief executive officer Mark Cameron, however, felt the decision reflected the sentiment of the bowls community.
"What everyone is saying, and what the bowls community is saying, is it was inappropriate to default a final like that," Cameron said.
"I guess that is why the judiciary reached their decision.
"If they could have reasonably played the final, then they should have played the final.
"When you arrange a trip you would like to think you would allow for the fact you might make the final."
