Hetherington charged by RFL

Leeds chief executive Gary Hetherington has been charged by the RFL, following his comments regarding an investigation into Zak Hardaker‘s alleged use of homophobic language.

Hardaker was later found to have no case to answer.

Hetherington slammed the investigation as a “witch hunt”, stating: “We are concerned there appears to be a witch-hunt by the RFL towards Zak Hardaker and we are calling for an external investigation into the issues surrounding the investigation.”

The RFL have now released a statement which reads:

“Leeds Rhinos Chief Executive Gary Hetherington has been charged with Improper Conduct for questioning the motivation and integrity of an RFL investigation into an incident in his club’s First Utility Super League fixture against St Helens played on Friday August 29.

“Mr Hetherington is charged with a breach of Operational Rule D1.8 (c) (Improper Conduct) by engaging in conduct which is prejudicial to the interests of the game.

“The charge will be heard by an independent Operational Rules tribunal on Wednesday October 1.”