June 12, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-us-Sani 07, 1429

SYDNEY, June 11: The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has voted to kick swimmer Nick D'Arcy off the team for Beijing for his role in a nightclub brawl that left a former competitor with serious facial injuries.

The AOC executive board on Wednesday unanimously backed the original decision of its president, John Coates, that D'Arcy had brought the sport into disrepute after he was charged over an alleged assault in March.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) had ordered the AOC to reopen the case because they had not followed correct procedures when banning him from this year's Olympics, but they reached the same decision.

“The effect that Nicholas D'Arcy's conduct had on his reputation, as found by the president and confirmed by the CAS, was the basis for the decision by the AOC Executive,” AOC vice president Ron Harvey said in a statement.

“The Australian Olympic Committee is proud of the excellent standards and conduct of past and present Olympians and in the eyes of the Australian public we have an obligation to protect that reputation.

“To terminate the membership of an athlete on the Australian Olympic Team is a very serious matter. After careful consideration we have reached a decision based on that responsibility.”

D'Arcy was initially thrown off the team in April after a brawl at a nightclub left former Commonwealth Games champion Simon Cowley with a broken jaw and nose, fractured eye socket, crushed cheekbone and fractured palate.

D'Arcy, a university student, had been celebrating his inclusion in the team in the 100 and 200 metres butterfly for Beijing when a fight broke out.

He was charged by police and is due to face a Sydney court later this month. D'Arcy maintains his innocence and vowed to fight the charges. Public opinion is deeply divided on whether or not he should be allowed to compete.—Reuters