via England Lacrosse press release/website

FLN: Those who listened to Morning Coffee on July 4th know that I talked about the clear cheap shot that marred the end of the Japan-England 5th Place game, which was high stakes because it would determine who would be in Pool A in the next World Championships. Japan won the game and in the dying seconds, with the game not in doubt, Andrew Baxter of England gave one of the worst cheap shots I’ve ever witnessed, with the Japanese player, Sota Hakozaki, lying motionless for many minutes.

World Lacrosse swiftly issued a 6-game ban, and frankly Baxter should be thankful that Hakozaki has recovered, since if he was paralyzed, or worse, Baxter might well be facing a criminal investigation. England Lacrosse issued the following, and it won’t surprise me if Baxter is permanently banned from playing for them. We’ll see how the investigation is handled, and bring you updates as they come in.

In 2014, while talking to the South Florida Chapter during their Hall of Fame/All American Dinner, the biggest applause line I received was for the simple call for players to understand “the head and the neck are off limits. Period.”. Let’s hope there’s a renewed discussion and training with players to fully inculcate that into their on-field behavior and actions. Honoring the Creator does not mean purposely trying to injure an opponent. Period.

Statement

In the closing moments of the 5th/6th play-off game at the 2023 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship held in San Diego on Friday 30 June, an extremely regrettable incident occurred involving England player, Andrew Baxter; Baxter executed a late, high, and excessively violent tackle on Sota Hakozaki of the Japanese team.

England Lacrosse unequivocally condemns this action, as it goes against the principles of fair play and sportsmanship that we uphold. We want to express our sincerest apologies to Sota Hakozaki and the entire Japanese team for the distress caused by this incident.

We are relieved to report that Sota has thankfully recovered from the incident without sustaining serious injury. Our thoughts and best wishes remain with him and the entire Japanese team as they move forward.

Following the incident, England Lacrosse has been fully cooperative with World Lacrosse throughout the disciplinary process associated with the World Lacrosse Men’s Championship. This process has now reached its conclusion, with World Lacrosse imposing a six-game international ban on Andrew Baxter as a consequence of his actions.

In addition to the World Lacrosse disciplinary measures, England Lacrosse will be conducting our own internal disciplinary process. To ensure impartiality, we have asked Mark Jeffreys, a board member and chair of the performance and talent group, to form an independent panel that will oversee this process. The findings of this panel will be made public once they have been reached.

We are committed to addressing this matter with utmost seriousness and transparency. England Lacrosse will continue to emphasise the importance of fair play, respect, and safety within our sport. We will do everything in our power to prevent such incidents from happening in the future and maintain the integrity of the game.

Once again, we extend our deepest apologies to Sota Hakozaki, the Japanese team, and all those affected by this regrettable incident.