The coach of a country town hockey team has left the club over an "unfair" tanking incident in which his team let an opposing team win in order to play an easier side in the finals.
Towns South Hockey Club last night admitted players were directed to "tank" or let the opposing team, Wests Hockey Club, score and win the match.
In a statement, the Western Australian club offered an unconditional apology for the actions of its men's team last Friday at its home ground in Bunbury.
They blamed their coach, Allan McGeoch, for the tanking episode.
"There is no reasonable justification for the action which involved some players following a coaching directive to allow Wests to score two goals tangibly unopposed to draw the game," the statement said.
"The action taken violates both the Towns South Hockey Club and South West Hockey Association codes of conduct and is not congruent with the values of our club."
Following an investigation by the South West Hockey Association, and assisted by Hockey Australia, the team was on Friday afternoon disqualified from the finals.
Ironically, they were set to play same team this weekend.
The association also said Mr McGeoch was "now no longer associated" with the club.
The local hockey tribunal heard the desired outcome was to "deliberately manipulate the outcome of a fixture, to impact the final positions of teams in finals contention."
The association also had the power to fine the club $5,000 as it was found to "have deliberately sought to gain unfair advantage".
The local hockey league said it did not wish to go down that route, because it "would cripple the organisation".
The tribunal then decided not to issue a fine.
"The outcome reflects the seriousness of competition manipulation and that there is a zero-tolerance approach to this in hockey at any form and at any level," Hockey Australia said in a statement.
Mr McGeoch told the ABC he did instruct the team to let two goals through unopposed, but denied it was for any advantage.
He said it was a protest against recent rules introduced by the league, as well as a show of support for a player's mental health.
However, he declined to elaborate further.
"At the end of the day I am certainly sorry for the way it all panned out," Mr McGeoch said.
Opposing team 'confused' by tanking
The team had come under intense scrutiny by the public and in local media.
Wests Hockey Club president Julie Cockman said no discussion had taken place with Towns South Hockey Club before the game.
"As a team, we were left pretty confused by the events that unfolded," she said.
"They went with the intention of good quality hockey and ideally winning."
