- Rugby fan pleads guilty to abusing official online
- Aaron Isaia abused during a World Cup match
- He has avoided jail but got bail for good behavior.
A 22-year-old man has been convicted after abusing a referee during the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Aaron Isaia pleaded guilty to one count of using an online communication platform to threaten or harass, during a hearing in a magistrates court near Brisbane on Tuesday.
The Australian rugby fan abused television match official (TMO) Brian MacNeice and his family during Samoa’s loss to England in the tournament in France.
He was placed on $1,000 bail for good behavior for 12 months, but avoided jail.
The case was described as a “historic outcome” by World Rugby, the sport’s governing body.
A rugby fan was convicted of abusing a referee during the World Cup
Aaron Isaia pleaded guilty to abusing TMO official Brian MacNeice (above) online
They added that they are taking steps to prohibit Isaia from purchasing tickets to matches in the future.
“Vile and toxic abuse is very common for many athletes, men and women and public figures, and we hope this sends a very strong message to online trolls that such behavior is totally unacceptable,” said World CEO Rugby, Alan Gilpin. .
The governing body also revealed that similar cases are ongoing in five different jurisdictions.
A monitoring service that tracked social media abuse during the tournament is credited with cracking down on online abuse.
