Did the punishment really fit the bill?

As Evening Press readers will know, the 25-year-old saw his appeal against a two-year ban dismissed last week, the player having tested positive for an illegal substance, namely benzoylecgonine, which is a metabolite of cocaine.

The ruling not only hits the Knights, with the squad losing a fine player and the fans losing a real entertainer, but, more importantly, Godfrey himself has lost two years of a hitherto excellent career.

Okay, nobody wants to see any drugs in the game, and there are those who would argue that any positive test should be followed by an automatic lifetime ban. They have a case, but there are several issues to look at.

Firstly - and most tormenting - is the fact that Godfrey, although yet to speak out in person, has continued to proclaim his innocence.

No details of his defence have been revealed but the Evening Press believes one possibility surrounds the make-up of benzoylecgonine, with claims that a similar chemical composition can arise from over-the-counter herbal remedies.

The fact these appeals require the player to prove his innocence rather than the prosecutors his guilt is a major hindrance. Maybe legal costs or the expense of carrying out analytical tests or re-tests on samples were simply too obstructive - if you haven't got the resources, what can you do?

Secondly, the punishment, even if he had been guilty of taking cocaine, arguably didn't fit the alleged crime.

Doping controls are there to prevent sportsmen from cheating, yet, while it is probably dangerous to snort a line and go out for a game, cocaine is a recreational drug and does not aid performance.

Managing editor of trade paper League Express, Martyn Sadler, summed up this side of the argument in his column. He wrote: "I can't see the justification for such a severe sentence, particularly in the light of the three most recent cases involving Super League players and steroid use, when two bans for one year were handed down, and one player was fined but not banned." Quite.

Where is the consistency? Does it suggest that less well-off semi-professionals are easy targets to make a hard lesson of?

Granted, cocaine is an illegal drug and its use should always be vilified, but is it a sporting organisation's place to hand down punishment for such an offence, and a Draconian punishment at that?

Yes, drug use slights the game, as well as the player and their club, but would it punish other alleged crimes in such a fashion or would it accede to the law courts?

Furthermore, would a court of law have handed down such a severe punishment? In fact, would it have found Godfrey (pictured above) "guilty beyond reasonable doubt"?

The RFL might not be wholly responsible for this particular decision, with UK Sport insisting that sports governing bodies follow World Anti-Doping Agency guidelines. However, these guidelines, judging by this ruling, do seem irregular.

It has all been compounded by the farcical events in athletics and tennis, in which doping issues have recently come to the fore, and all in all it must leave Godfrey asking why it is he who has to feel the mighty wrath of wholly inconsistent regulations. Especially if he knows he is innocent.

The Knights themselves have kept a diplomatic silence on events and have rightly endorsed the policy of the RFL and enforced their own club policy by terminating Godfrey's contract.

But there are hints in their official statement that suggest they feel for the player, with reference to his "good character, career hitherto and work in the community".

There are hints, too, that the three-man adjudication panel itself sympathised with Godfrey's plight by making no order as to costs.

In his column in Wednes-day's Evening Press, Knights coach Richard Agar also had words of support, though he too refrained from commenting on the case itself.

"He is a friend and at times like this he needs his friends more than ever," he wrote, adding words this column can happily echo: "I hope we see his considerable talents back on a rugby field."

PRAISE befell York-based Arriva Trains Northern this week from the very top echelons of rugby league.

Arriva, which has headquarters in York, have sponsored the National League Cup for two seasons, culminating in the final last weekend at Spotland, Rochdale, which saw Leigh beat Hull KR.

And after the final, RFL executive chairman Richard Lewis was quick to praise the trains company and indeed presented managing director Dyan Crowther with a commemorative award.

Unfortunately, Arriva's sponsorship - which also benefits junior rugby, girls rugby, amateur rugby and grass-roots rugby - can not continue after the company lost their franchise for 2005 onwards, though it was revealed that efforts to continue the partnership between the railways and rugby league are ongoing.

TICKETS for the Knights Supporters' Club's Sounds of the Sixties Disco in the Huntington Stadium bar on Saturday, August 14 are available from the club office (tel 01904 656105).

They cost £5, which includes a basket meal and late bar till midnight. Fancy dress is encouraged as prizes will be given to the best. There will also be the customary raffle.

THE Knights roadshows for youngsters aged eight to 12 this week are at Oaklands School on Tuesday and Lord Deramore School, Heslington, on Thursday, both from 1-3pm. For further details ring the club on 01904 656105.

Another one for the cabinet

York City Knights winger Austin Buchanan has been presented with his LHF Healthplan National League Two 'Player of the Month' award for June.

As reported by the Evening Press, the 19-year-old, who joined from Leeds in May, picked up a double at the end of last month as he also scooped the Press-sponsored award as voted for by readers.

LHF Healthplan has introduced the monthly award series to celebrate its sponsorship of the league this season.

Updated: 10:28 Saturday, July 24, 2004