Rugby fan is convicted for abusing referee and his family following World Cup match

A 22-year-old man has been convicted after abusing a match official during the 2023 Rugby World Cup. 

Aaron Isaia pleaded guilty to one count of using an online communication platform to menace or harass, during a hearing at a magistrates' court near Brisbane on Tuesday.

The rugby fan from Australia abused Television Match Official (TMO) Brian MacNeice and his family during Samoa's defeat by England at the tournament in France.  

He was handed a 12-month good behaviour bond of $1,000, but avoided prison.

The case was labelled a 'landmark outcome' by World Rugby, the sport's governing body. 

They added that they are taking steps to ban Isaia from buying tickets to games in the future.

'The vile and toxic abuse is an all too common occurrence for many sports men and women and public figures, and we hope that this sends a very strong message to online trolls that such behaviour is totally unacceptable,' World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin said.

The governing body also revealed that there are similar ongoing cases in five different jurisdictions.

A monitoring service that tracked social media abuse during the tournament has been credited with the crackdown on online abuse.