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Broncos Anthony Seibold Exit Deal, Club Fined $75,000 For Breaching COVID-19 Protocols.

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ead coach of the Brisbane Broncos, Anthony Seibold, is facing an alleged exit deal in excess of a million dollars to leave the club immediately, according to reports from Nine Network.

Originally, Anthony Seibold had a five-year deal planned, but based on the latest results with the NRL club having the worst record in its club history, the club appears to be looking to find a new replacement to improve on the side’s COVID-19 performance.

In recent weeks, the Brisbane Broncos have been fined $75,000, with ten players facing individual sanctions for breaching the NRL’s COVID-19 biosecurity protocols.

The club and player fines total $140,000 for attending the Everton Park Hotel earlier this month and not following the NRL’s protocols, with players Jake Turpin, Kotoni Staggs, David Fifita, Corey Paix, Keenan Palasia, Sean O’Sullivan, and Corey Oates to be fined five per cent of their salary, while Ethan Bullemor, Josh James, and Tyson Gamble will have some of their financial sanctions suspended.

Acting NRL CEO, Andrew Abdo, said the NRL found the breaches through a thorough investigation, confirming the players weren’t placed into a 14-day quarantine on the advice of experts due to the low risk of community transmission in Brisbane.

“We have taken our time to thoroughly investigate this matter so we could gather as much evidence as possible to determine exactly what happened at the venue,’’ Abdo said in a statement.

“It is our view that this breach involved a significant failure of the club to properly administer the league’s biosecurity protocols.

“In other cases, players and officials who breached protocols in or around hotspots in NSW were placed on a 14-day “COVID Hold” because infection rates in those regions are much higher.

“Those decisions were based on a biosecurity risk assessment, not an NRL suspension.

“The biosecurity assessment of each contravention of the league’s protocols will often give rise to different outcomes based on the specific facts of each contravention.

“The second phase, being the league’s approach to sanctioning players, officials or clubs, will focus on financial penalties in most cases.

“Today’s sanctions send another clear message to all players, officials and clubs that breaching protocols will not be tolerated,” he said.

Broncos CEO, Paul White, said the club would accept the fines as “an expensive lesson”.

“We accept the imposition of the $75,000 fine, as the club has ultimate accountability for the actions of our players,” White said.

“The players will also pay a price in terms of individual sanctions.

“It is an expensive lesson for us all, but it reinforces how important these protocols are to the survival of our competition and community health,” he said.

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