WEST Coast Fever have found themselves in hot water after the Super Netball Commission found they had breached their salary cap throughout the 2018 and 2019 Suncorp Super Netball seasons. An investigation was conducted with the results proving that the Fever had exceeded their cap by close to $300,000 over 2018 and 2019.

The breaches came through “Total Player Payments” with West Coast Fever handing out undisclosed contracts which gifted players with salaries beyond the realms of the Suncorp Super Netball Total Player Payment cap. Overall, the Fever exceeded the cap by $127,954 in 2018 – 19.7 per cent over the designated cap – while they topped that in 2019 breaching the cap by a whopping $168,659.

Although it was found that the players and coaches themselves were not aware of the salary breaches, the club has come under fire for their wrongdoings and will suffer the consequences in the upcoming 2021 Suncorp Super Netball season.

The first sanction is a $300,000 fine with $150,000 of that total to be suspended. However, if the Total Player Payment rules are breached again within the next three years the Fever will have to cough up the suspended amount. The rest of the fine will be staggered over the 2020/21 financial year and 2021/22 financial year with $75,000 to be paid off at each stage.

The second sanction will not only have a large influence on the Fever but so too the competition as a whole, with 12 premiership points or the equivalent of three games docked from the club. Primed as a premiership favourite again in 2021, being stripped of premiership points could not only alter their ability to make finals but so too the chances of the teams around them.

Given the extent of the breach and the overall magnitude of the situation, Suncorp Super Netball Commission Chair Marina Go believes that the measures are necessary to stamp out the same type of behaviour happening again.

“The West Coast Fever have been given heavy penalties for the significant breaches of the club’s salary cap over the 2018 and 2019 seasons,” she said.

“There is no room for this behaviour within our sport and the Commission is disappointed to have to hand down these sanctions.”