EUROPEAN TOUR POSITION ON SIMON DYSON DISQUALIFICATION

STATEMENT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR

On Friday October 25, 2013, Simon Dyson (pictured) was disqualified from the BMW Masters presented by SRE Group at Lake Malaren Golf Club in Shanghai, China.

Under the Rules of Golf he was found to have breached Rule 16-1a, which states that a player must not touch his line of putt. He subsequently failed to add a two-shot penalty to his score when signing his card, and as a result was disqualified under Rule 6-6d. Television viewers had alerted The European Tour to the incident, which took place on the eighth green during the second round.    

At the conclusion of the tournament, and having reviewed subsequent reports from Tournament Director Mikael Eriksson and Chief Referee John Paramor, it was decided by David Garland, Director of Tour Operations for The European Tour, that further action was required under The European Tour’s Code of Behaviour and Disciplinary Procedure, which states:

“3. Serious Breach. If, at the conclusion of an investigation into an alleged breach of the Code by a Member, it is evident that a serious breach of the Code may have occurred, then a disciplinary hearing shall take place before an independent disciplinary panel.” 

Under The European Tour regulations, the three-person panel will comprise an independent lawyer, an ex-Member of the European Tour or current player on the European Senior Tour and an experienced sports administrator. 

The player in question will then be asked to appear before the Disciplinary Panel at a hearing that will be convened on at least 21 days’ notice to the player.

If, following the hearing, the panel decides that a breach of the Code has been established, it shall impose a sanction that it considers appropriate having regard to the circumstances. Such sanctions may range from a reprimand, a censure, a fine, a suspension of Membership, a suspension from participation in one or more tournaments or for a given period, or expulsion from The European Tour, or otherwise as the panel shall determine.

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