- NRL and Queensland Police Commissioner comment on allegation
- Both the league and the police are investigating the “very serious” matter.
- Star cannot be named for legal reasons and has not been charged
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo has described rape allegations leveled at a Queensland player as “very serious” and confirmed the league is working with a club on an investigation.
The player, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, has not yet been charged but was the subject of a formal complaint made to Queensland Police by a woman on Tuesday.
“The Queensland Police Service is investigating an allegation of sexual assault relating to an incident on the Gold Coast on Tuesday 14 May 2024. Investigations into this matter are ongoing,” Queensland Police said in a statement to the Daily Mail. Australia on Thursday morning.
“Obviously these are very serious accusations,” Abdo said.
“We are working with the relevant parties to find out more and obviously as we know more, we will be able to say more.” But right now, all I can say is that it is very disappointing to hear these accusations.
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo (pictured) said rape allegations leveled against a high-profile Queensland-based player were “very serious”.
The NRL player, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, has not been charged.
‘They are very serious. We have policies in place to address these (issues) should they arise. We’ll deal with the facts once we know a little more.
If charged, the player would be subject to the league’s no-fault suspension policy, which suspends any player accused of a crime that carries a possible prison sentence of at least 11 years.
Under Queensland law, accused sex offenders cannot be named publicly until they have been charged, so the NRL is unlikely to be able to detain the player until then because of the risk of publicly identifying them.
“I can’t really comment on it until we know all the facts,” Abdo said.
“Once we know all the facts, we will be able to make decisions based on our policies and, obviously, also respecting the relevant legislation.”
The allegations emerged days after the NRL’s flagship event, the Magic Round, which takes place in Brisbane this weekend.
“We will continue to move forward,” Abdo said.
“We have strong policies and we have zero tolerance for any form of violence against anyone, so we will wait to see what the facts are and then we will be able to say more in due course.”
Queensland Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski (pictured) said police are investigating.
Queensland Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said he was aware of the allegation.
“So obviously there is an investigation, no charges have been filed at this time,” Mr. Gollschewski said.
‘I understand that these types of investigations are quite complex, so it may take some time to carry out.
‘But as we always do, we will allow the investigators to do their job and establish the truth and the evidence that exists.
“I have a lot of confidence in our people.”
