D'Arcy Meets The Aussie Olympic Committee
2008-06-11
Craig Lord
Australian swimmer Nick D'Arcy, dropped from the Olympic team after being charged with assault in an incident that left former Dolphin Simon Cowley having to wear metal plates in his face, attended a meeting with the Australian Olympic Committee today

Australian swimmer Nick D'Arcy, dropped from the Olympic team after being charged with assault in an incident that left former Dolphin Simon Cowley having to wear metal plates in his face, attended a meeting with the Australian Olympic Committee this morning.

He wants to be reinstated on to a team that includes the key witness in the incident at a time when D'Arcy's bail conditions state that he cannot come into close contact with any of those who must provide witness in court at a later stage.

The Australian Olympic Committee, the President of which is John Coates, dropped D'Arcy on the grounds that he brought sport into disrepute. D'Arcy's solicitor, Jack Leitner, told ABC that the committee gave his client a fair hearing. 'It went well. We were warmly received, which was positive, and we've been able to put our case before the AOC executive,' said the Lawyer. Coates excluded himself from the hearing to remove any concerns of bias given that it was his decision to drop D'Arcy. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled last month that Coates alone did not have the authority to take the action he did.

Do we think that his fellow board members will now vote against him? We'll soon see. They will doubtless wish to think about the impact on the rest of the Australian team.