- NRL and the Queensland Police Commissioner comment on the allegation
- Both the league and the police are investigating the ‘very serious’ matter
- Star cannot be named for legal reasons and no fees have been charged
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo has described rape allegations against a Queensland player as “very serious” and confirmed the league is working with a club on an investigation.
The player, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has not yet been charged but was the subject of a formal complaint made to Queensland Police by a woman on Tuesday.
“Queensland Police are investigating a sexual assault complaint relating to an incident on the Gold Coast on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. The investigation into this matter is ongoing,” Queensland Police said in a statement to Daily Mail Australia on Thursday morning .
“These are clearly very serious allegations,” Abdo said.
‘We are working with the relevant parties to find out more and as we know more, we can of course say more. But at this stage I can only say that it is very disappointing to hear about these allegations.
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo (pictured) said rape allegations against a high-profile Queensland player were ‘very serious’
The NRL player, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has not been charged
‘They are very serious. We have policies in place to address these (issues) should they arise. We will deal with the facts as soon as we know more.’
If charged, the player would be subject to the league’s no-fault stand-down policy, which suspends any player charged with an offense that carries a potential prison sentence of at least 11 years.
Under Queensland law, accused sex offenders cannot be publicly named until they have been charged, so the NRL is unlikely to be able to reject the player until then because it risks publicly identifying him.
“I can’t really comment on it until we know all the facts,” Abdo said.
‘If we know all the facts, we can make decisions based on our policy and of course also with respect for the relevant legislation.’
The allegations emerged over days during the NRL event Magic Round, which is being held in Brisbane this weekend.
“We keep moving,” Abdo said.
“We have a strong policy, we have a zero tolerance policy for any form of violence against anyone, so we will wait and see what the facts are and then be able to say more in due course.”
Queensland Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski (pictured) said police are investigating
Queensland Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said he was aware of the allegation.
“So clearly there is an investigation and no charges have been laid at this stage,” Mr Gollschewski said.
‘I understand that these types of investigations are quite complex, so it may take some time to do that.
“But as we always do, we will let investigators do their job and determine the truth and evidence.
‘I have a lot of confidence in our people.’