Former Wales assistant coach Rob Howley has been banned from all involvement in rugby for 18 months, nine of which are suspended, after breaching anti-corruption and betting regulations, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) said on Monday.
Howley returned home from Japan shortly before the World Cup began in September after the WRU became aware of possible wrongdoing.
"Howley was withdrawn from his duties with Wales ahead of the 2019 Rugby World Cup as soon as the WRU became aware of a potential breach of regulations and an investigation was immediately launched," said a statement from the governing body.
Statement: Rob Howley suspensionhttps://t.co/f6o3tkn0hR
— Welsh Rugby Union (@WelshRugbyUnion) December 16, 2019
"The suspension is backdated to the time of his initial withdrawal from the World Cup, on the 16th September 2019, meaning Howley would be free to return to the game on or after 16th June 2020."
According the official report from the hearing, Howley was found guilty of placing 363 bets across 1163 rugby matches over the space of four years using accounts from a number of sports betting providers in the UK.
Some of those bets included on the Wales team while he was an assistant in the international setup and also on two separate anonymous individuals to be a try scorer at any time and first try scorer in two separate Wales Tests.
The Welsh Rugby Union was alerted to Howley's betting activity by UK agency Betway on September 10 and quickly moved to have Howley withdrawn from the Welsh World Cup setup.
In evidence submitted in the hearing, WRU operations officer Julie Paterson described as "visibly upset" during an initial meeting in Japan about the betting investigation.
Paterson reported that Howley said in that meeting "“I’m putting my hands up” and “If I was being evasive, I wouldn’t have used my works mobile phone and email account".
When questioned about his betting activity Howley admitted to betting on the Wales team and on an individual to score against Ireland in the 2019 Six Nations, as part of a "treble" bet.
Both players named in the try scoring bets were interviewed as part of the investigation but were found to have no knowledge
It was estimated Howley suffered financial losses of approximately $AU7764 over five years of "hobby" betting, a habit that was believed to be triggered by a family tragedy involving the death of his sister.
The hearing deemed there were a number of mitigating factors in Howley's case including his remorse, the fact he hadn't profited from his betting and the worldwide media coverage of the incident and the toll that took on his family.
The 49-year-old former Wales captain had been part of ex-head coach Warren Gatland's coaching team since 2008.
His departure from the Wales camp in Japan threw the Six Nations' Champions' preparations into disarray but they went on to reach the semi-finals, where they lost to South Africa.
Howley enjoyed a glittering playing career, making 59 appearances for Wales and captaining his country on 22 occasions.
