WNBL hands out big bans after referee leaked coach ‘confidential’ footage of rivals
A WNBL coach and referee have been handed hefty bans by Basketball Australia after they were found to have “misused” training footage of the Sydney Flames.
The Sydney Flames had participated in the filming of their training scrimmage, with the confidential video clips to be used by the WNBL’s referees for education purposes.
But the WNBL found referee Simon Cosier, a Canberra referee with 102 games experience in the competition, had passed on the footage to University of Canberra Capitals head coach Paul Goriss, who is also the assistant coach of the Australian women’s team, the Opals.
Cosier was banned from refereeing until the end of the season, which runs until April 2, while Goriss will be banned from all coaching activities, including Opals duties, until January 20.
Basketball Australia chairman John Carey defined the act as an integrity breach and believed the pair had engaged in conduct that could impair the public’s confidence in the “good character of basketball”.
“This incident was immediately referred to the integrity unit who undertook a full investigation and referred the matter to an independent hearing panel,” he said. “We will not tolerate this behaviour in basketball. It is unprofessional and extremely disappointing at any level of the game.”
“Unprofessional”: Canberra Capitals coach Paul Goriss.Credit:Getty
The panel found Goriss or the Capitals has not gained actual advantage by accessing the footage.
Despite this, the panel banned Goriss for a month for “using some of the clips for opposition scouting”.
The panel also banned Cosier from all refereeing activities for the rest of the WNBL season for “offering and supplying the footage to Goriss”.
WNBL referee Simon Cosier, who was banned for the rest of the season.Credit:WNBL
The bans are effective immediately but both parties have been given 14 days to appeal the sanctions.
The Capitals released a club statement and said Goriss had accepted responsibility for his actions. Assistant coach Kennedy Karema will step into the head coach role amid his five-game suspension.
“The UC Capitals take issues of sport integrity with great seriousness and acknowledge Goriss’ actions, for which he has accepted responsibility for,” the statement said.
“Goriss has demonstrated exemplary character on and off the court over many years and the club is supportive of Goriss now and into the future,” the club statement said.
Cosier has been a fixture of the WNBL refereeing ranks since 2009. In 2017, the official made news when he refereed alongside his wife Michelle.
Michelle was a former WNBL championship winning player with the Canberra Capitals before switching to refereeing. Ahead of her debut as a referee in 2017 she told the Canberra Times her husband Simon was “very professional”.
“Simon is very professional, he’s been doing WNBL for a long time so it’s great to have him there,” Michelle Cosier said at the time. “He’s very honest with how I’m doing. When we’re on the court it’s all about the game.”
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