Cronulla Sharks stand down Andrew and David Fifita for allegedly abusing referee

The Cronulla Sharks have stood down Andrew and David Fifita for allegedly abusing a referee at an A-grade game over the weekend.

The brothers were earlier today issued with a 12-month ban on attending Penrith junior matches over the incident, in which they allegedly physically and verbally threatened three young match officials after Saturday's game at Glenwood.

They will now not be available for selection for Saturday's game against the Warriors in Auckland.

An NRL spokesperson said the game's governing body was working closely with the Sharks on an appropriate sanction for bringing the game into disrepute.

An incident report obtained by the ABC yesterday said David Fifita was acting as a trainer and allegedly said to the referee "you're a fucking disgrace mate".

When he failed to stop the verbal abuse, the match official tried to record the incident on his mobile phone, the report said.

This allegedly prompted Andrew Fifita to walk into a roped-off area and say, "delete that now or I'll smash you", before charging towards the referee, forcing numerous people to intervene to hold him back.

However, rugby league sources have told the ABC that while the referee had attempted to record the confrontation on his mobile phone, in his flustered state he had not pressed record.

The match official said in the report the behaviour displayed by the Fifita brothers made him feel "very uncomfortable and threatened", and that if people had not physically intervened "the matter had the potential to escalate into a physical altercation".

Following the decision to stand the pair down, the Sharks said it was reviewing evidence from those who saw what happened, including match officials, participating club representatives, ground officials and independent witnesses.

The players will now be given the opportunity to review that evidence.
The club said it was clear there were conflicting accounts of what occurred.