The Uganda Rugby Union (URU) has handed Warriors player Gabriel Aredo a 10-month suspension for beating up Journalist Johnson Were.
The suspension was communicated through a statement released by the Union on Tuesday, October 4.
“The Disciplinary Committee of the Uganda Rugby Union was convened on 28th September 2022 and all parties were invited to provide their independent accounts of the incident.” The statement read.
“The Disciplinary Committee reviewed the merits in the statement and interaction during the session and provided their recommendation to the Executive Committee of Uganda Rugby Union.
“Mr Gabriel Aredo is suspended from Uganda Rugby Union sanctioned Rugby activities for a duration of 10 months effective 29th September 2022.”
On September 25th, Aredo pounced on Were during the Kyabazinga 7s in Jinja, beating up the veteran journalist and damaging his camera. The scuffle was recorded on video by a by-stander prompting journalist to call for action by URU.
The 10-month suspension means Aredo will return to Rugby at the end of June 2023, after missing the upcoming Rugby League.
After the ruling, NBS Sport spoke to Were who is satisfied with the outcome.
“This is something that we have been asking the Union to do for a while. Those guys (Rugby Players) have always mistreated journalists and our crys have always fallen on deaf ears however, now that the Union has acted, may be things will be better.”
Were however insists the damage on his camera has not been addressed.
“I am still waiting to know how my camera is going to be compensated and it is something that has not been mentioned in the Union’s ruling which is disappointing.”
