SEC fines Ole Miss and Kentucky for fans storming field
Ole Miss and Kentucky both registered huge wins Saturday afternoon over Alabama and South Carolina, respectively. When the high from those victories wore off, both programs were levied with fines from the SEC because their fans stormed the field in shows of celebration.
The conference announced Sunday that Ole Miss will be fined $50,000 while Kentucky’s fine will be $25,000. Ole Miss was fined for similar field stormings in 2012 and 2013, resulting in an increased fine. Kentucky’s last field storming incident was in 2007 – more than three years ago – so the fine was less than the one levied to Ole Miss.
“Saturday’s games were filled with excitement and celebration for a number of schools across the SEC last weekend, but significant risk of injury for student-athletes and fans alike can result from incidents such as these,” said SEC commissioner Mike Slive. “Health and safety will always be a top priority at SEC athletic events.”
The SEC’s “access to competition area policy” says that “access to competition areas shall be limited to participating student-athletes, coaches, officials, support personnel and properly-credentialed individuals at all times.”
The league cites safety concerns when enforcing the policy.
“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,” the policy reads. “It is the responsibility of each member institution to implement procedures to ensure compliance with this policy.”
Ole Miss scored two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter to come from behind and knock off the Crimson Tide for the first time since 2003 to improve to 5-0 – a record the program has not attained since 1962.
In Lexington, the Wildcats stormed back from a two-touchdown deficit to beat the Gamecocks 42-35. Now 4-1, Kentucky has won as many games this year as it won in the past two seasons combined.
Something tells me Ole Miss athletic director Ross Bjork and Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart won’t mind paying these fines off.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
