Was just reading the following article on the AFL website about a former Sydney player (now playing in the VFL) who was suspended for biting the testicles of an opponent.
Former Sydney rover Peter Filandia has been suspended for ten matches for biting the testicles of an opponent in an incident which had done ?untold damage to the game?.
Filandia, now playing with and assistant coach of Port Melbourne in the VFL, pleaded guilty to biting the testicles of Springvale?s Chad Davis ? who is an AFL listed player with St Kilda.
However the 31-year-old, who played 83 AFL games with Essendon and Sydney between 1993 and 2000, said he bit Davis only under provocation because the Springvale player had his legs wrapped around his head.
?I couldn?t breathe so I panicked and bit the player?s shorts,? he said. ?I wasn?t sure what I bit and obviously I don?t condone what I did and I know it was wrong.?
?But there were circumstances that caused me to react in that irrational way.?
The VFL tribunal took 40 minutes to decide a penalty for Filandia and in handing it down, chairman Eddie Power condemned the former Sydney rover?s actions.
?You?re actions have done untold damage to the game of football which we are all trying to promote,? Power said to Filandia.
?You can play again this year but this is something that is going to take you a long time to live down and you are going to have to work at it.?
Power also told Filandia, who could be forced into an early retirement as a result of tonight?s suspension, he could not play again until he met with a VFL player welfare specialist.
Outside the hearing Filandia again apologised to Davis as he did inside the hearing ? when the pair sat opposite each other while giving evidence.
?I offer my deepest apologies and remorse to all concerned, primarily to Chad Davis and the Springvale Football Club and the VFL,? Filandia said.
?I know that what occurred was wrong and I must pay the penalty for it.?
?But the incident was in no way pre-mediated or malicious, it was a split-second decision I made in a state of panic to release his grip around my neck and mouth.?
However earlier inside the hearing Davis, who has played 22 games with St Kilda, denied he had Filandia?s head locked between his legs although he did admit to ?squeezing his body with my legs.?
Davis said he felt a ?sharp pain? to his groin area and added ?that at no stage did I give him any reason to bite me on the testicles?.
The Springvale forward, who just before the biting incident had crashed illegally into Filandia from behind resulting in both players going to the ground, said he had blood in his underpants after the game.
Springvale club doctor Dr Rohan White said Davis had an area of bruising of about 2cm on the right side of his scrotum ?with a small puncture mark at the top.?
Dr White said Davis? wounds had come as a result of a mouth bite and he immediately put Davis on a course of antibiotics and made sure Davis was checked out for any ?blood-born viruses?.
Field umpire Domenic Kearney who was controlling play at the time but did not see the incident, said immediately after Davis had got up from the ground after becoming entangled with Filandia ? he told the umpire that ?he (Filandia) bit my balls.?
Former Sydney rover Peter Filandia has been suspended for ten matches for biting the testicles of an opponent in an incident which had done ?untold damage to the game?.
Filandia, now playing with and assistant coach of Port Melbourne in the VFL, pleaded guilty to biting the testicles of Springvale?s Chad Davis ? who is an AFL listed player with St Kilda.
However the 31-year-old, who played 83 AFL games with Essendon and Sydney between 1993 and 2000, said he bit Davis only under provocation because the Springvale player had his legs wrapped around his head.
?I couldn?t breathe so I panicked and bit the player?s shorts,? he said. ?I wasn?t sure what I bit and obviously I don?t condone what I did and I know it was wrong.?
?But there were circumstances that caused me to react in that irrational way.?
The VFL tribunal took 40 minutes to decide a penalty for Filandia and in handing it down, chairman Eddie Power condemned the former Sydney rover?s actions.
?You?re actions have done untold damage to the game of football which we are all trying to promote,? Power said to Filandia.
?You can play again this year but this is something that is going to take you a long time to live down and you are going to have to work at it.?
Power also told Filandia, who could be forced into an early retirement as a result of tonight?s suspension, he could not play again until he met with a VFL player welfare specialist.
Outside the hearing Filandia again apologised to Davis as he did inside the hearing ? when the pair sat opposite each other while giving evidence.
?I offer my deepest apologies and remorse to all concerned, primarily to Chad Davis and the Springvale Football Club and the VFL,? Filandia said.
?I know that what occurred was wrong and I must pay the penalty for it.?
?But the incident was in no way pre-mediated or malicious, it was a split-second decision I made in a state of panic to release his grip around my neck and mouth.?
However earlier inside the hearing Davis, who has played 22 games with St Kilda, denied he had Filandia?s head locked between his legs although he did admit to ?squeezing his body with my legs.?
Davis said he felt a ?sharp pain? to his groin area and added ?that at no stage did I give him any reason to bite me on the testicles?.
The Springvale forward, who just before the biting incident had crashed illegally into Filandia from behind resulting in both players going to the ground, said he had blood in his underpants after the game.
Springvale club doctor Dr Rohan White said Davis had an area of bruising of about 2cm on the right side of his scrotum ?with a small puncture mark at the top.?
Dr White said Davis? wounds had come as a result of a mouth bite and he immediately put Davis on a course of antibiotics and made sure Davis was checked out for any ?blood-born viruses?.
Field umpire Domenic Kearney who was controlling play at the time but did not see the incident, said immediately after Davis had got up from the ground after becoming entangled with Filandia ? he told the umpire that ?he (Filandia) bit my balls.?
