The disciplinary hearing of suspended Lions coach John Mitchell started at the offices of the Golden Lions Rugby Union on Tuesday.
It's now 25 days since Mitchell was suspended after a group of players presented a 'list of grievances' to GLRU president Kevin de Klerk complaining about the manner in which Mitchell treated his players.
De Klerk later said the suspension of Mitchell wasn't only based purely on players' complaints. "It is inaccurate to say it is a player-driven thing and I would like us to move away from that," De Klerk said last month.
"It was inclusive of a number of processes and it wasn't necessarily the players on their own, and that is the way the position stands."
Mitchell informed Beeld that he welcomes the hearing so that he can set the record straight. He will be assisted by his legal team.
There appears to be no chance that Mitchell will return to his position as coach at the union, but they are yet to start looking at a possible replacement.
"For now we will continue with Ackers (Johan Ackerman - who was named interim coach) and Carlos (Spencer-backline coach). John is formally still the coach, so it would be wrong of us to start looking for someone else," Ruben Moggee, CEO of the GLRU, said.
Source: Sport24
