Rugby fan is convicted of abusing the referee and his family after the World Cup match
- A rugby fan has pleaded guilty to abusing an official online
- Aaron Isaia charged the abuse during a World Cup match
- He has avoided jail but has been given a good behavior bond
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A 22-year-old man has been sentenced after abusing a referee during the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Aaron Isaia pleaded guilty to a charge of using an online communication platform to threaten or harass during a hearing at a magistrates court near Brisbane on Tuesday.
The rugby fan from Australia abused TV Match Official (TMO) Brian MacNeice and his family during Samoa’s defeat to England at the tournament in France.
He was given a 12-month good behavior bond of $1,000 but avoided jail.
The case was branded a ‘landmark result’ by World Rugby, the sport’s governing body.
A rugby fan has been convicted of abusing a referee during the World Cup
Aaron Isaia pleaded guilty to abusing TMO employee Brian MacNeice (above) online
They added that they are taking steps to ban Isaia from buying tickets for games in the future.
“The vile and toxic abuse is an all too common occurrence for many sportsmen and women and public figures and we hope this sends a very strong message to online trolls that such behavior is completely unacceptable,” World said Rugby Chief Executive Alan Gilpin. .
The governing body also revealed that there are similar ongoing cases in five different jurisdictions.
A monitoring service that tracked abuse on social media during the tournament has been credited with cracking down on online abuse.