Obscene outburst has Aussie touch coach tossed out for two years

One of the most astonishing outbursts of obscenities heard during a Touch World Cup resulted in the two-year suspension of Australian coach Sam Ayoub last week..
Ayoub last week pleaded guilty to charges of misconduct for verbal abuse of the three New Zealand referees of the match between the Australian and New Zealand under-20 sides.
The match was the final and decisive game for the overall title at the recent World Cup in Queensland.
The verbal onslaught and physical threats towards all officials were "unlike anything I have ever struck before in over 10 years of refereeing the sport", Christchurch referee Craig Gray, who was one of the referees of the match on January 22, said.
"It was surreal."
According to the findings of the judicial committee of the Federation of International Touch (FIT), which were published last week, Ayoub was found guilty of a 10-point list of profanities that included "raising his rampant middle finger" and simultaneously calling out "get that up ya" to the referees on a significant number of occasions.
He also called out "youse are ... cheats, youse had a chance to fix this".
The judicial committee found that the list of Ayoub's obscenities was "verging on the overwhelming" and "indefensible" and that he had "totally lost his self-control".
Tony Trad, who was acting on behalf of Ayoub at the hearing, argued that there was an unhappy history between his client and one of the referees, Shaun Birmingham, which went back to the 2003 World Cup.
When Birmingham was appointed to the game, Ayoub unsuccessfully raised his concerns with the FIT director of referees, and "felt his complaint had been swept under the carpet".
FIT president Cary Thompson asked for a eight-year suspension, but the judiciary ruled that this "recommendation was excessively severe".
The subsequent two-year ban from all coaching and managing positions in domestic and international touch was based on Ayoub's guilty plea, his long service to the game and his "sense of frustration surrounding the appointment of Birmingham".
Gray said Ayoub started his abuse early in the match, but it escalated after Australian player Matt Bird was sent off for threatening Birmingham and calling him a "nigger".
Birmingham informed Gray of the comment and the Christchurch referee dismissed the Australian.
Bird escaped punishment at a subsequent hearing because there was no conclusive proof that the words came from Bird's mouth even though the comment was heard by two referees.
Gray, a witnesses at Ayoub's case, dismissed the conspiracy theories. He said the FIT simply wanted the top three referees in the world, "and they all happened to be Kiwis".
Neutral referees would not have been an option according to Gray, as the Australasian referees were "streets ahead" of any other country.
"The level of referees would not be anywhere near the level of any New Zealand referees."
Birmingham, who had already alluded to possible retirement before the World Cup, pulled the pin after the events in Queensland.
Ayoub, who is also a high-profile player-agent in rugby and rugby league, continued his attack on Birmingham and the other New Zealand officials in an email to the wider Australian touch fraternity after the World Cup, accusing Birmingham of being a "filthy low-life cheat", an "imposter", a "coward" and "the lowest form of human that exists".
Chairman of the board of Touch New Zealand Darrin Sykes yesterday welcomed the swiftness with which the judiciary had concluded its investigation and said that his board had already demanded further action following the abusive email.
"TNZ is seriously concerned about the content of that email and it will be following up with the FIT and the Australian Touch Association for what action it will take. At the very minimum we would expect a full investigation." ? NZPA