VANDERBILT FINED FOR VIOLATION OF ACCESS TO COMPETITION AREA POLICY
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (February 10, 2023) – The Southeastern Conference announced today that Vanderbilt University will be fined for a violation of the league’s access to competition area policy due to fans entering the court following its men’s basketball game against the University of Tennessee on February 8.
Vanderbilt will incur a fine of $250,000 for a fourth offense under the league’s access to competition area policy. Vanderbilt was last fined for a violation following its football game against Florida during the 2022 season.
Fines levied against schools for violation of the access to competition area policy are deposited into the SEC Post-Graduate Scholarship Fund.
The policy states that “access to competition areas shall be limited to participating student-athletes, coaches, officials, support personnel and properly-credentialed individuals at all times. For the safety of participants and spectators alike, at no time before, during or after a contest shall spectators be permitted to enter the competition area. It is the responsibility of each member institution to implement procedures to ensure compliance with this policy.”
Financial penalties are imposed for violations in all sports sponsored by the Conference. Institutional penalties range from $50,000 for a first offense to fines of up to $100,000 for a second offense and up to $250,000 for a third and subsequent offenses. The policy was originally adopted by a vote of Conference members in 2004 and financial penalties were increased by action taken by the membership during the 2015 SEC Spring Meetings.
The SEC announced in November that a Conference working group on event security will review and update policies intended to address post-game spectator incursion on competition fields and courts in the SEC with any new regulations to be implemented for the 2023-24 athletic year.
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