In late August, White Marlin Open (WMO) officials announced a potential rules violation could disqualify the winner in the white marlin division, a 76.5-pounder caught by angler Phillip Heasley on the Kallianassa out of Naples, Fla. Heasley’s 76.5-pound white marlin turned out to be the only qualifier in the division during the tournament and was to receive a record $2.8 million in prize money because the Kallianassa was entered across the board in all added entry levels.
However, about two weeks after the 2016 tournament, WMO officials announced there appeared to be rules violations involved regarding the timing of the catch and that Heasley and three other individuals on the Kallianassa including the captain and two mates were deceptive on their answers to some of the questions during the requisite post-tournament polygraph examinations for the winners in major categories.
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4 comments:
Sounds to me like the Naples boat should and will get paid....
Accusing someone of basically cheating means there is, and has been, a way to have cheated in the past. Knowing that, maybe I won't throw down the money to participate next year.
To withold the payout to this winner should mean taking a scrutinized look at winners in the past. And frankly, that's foolish.
They found a loophole and should fix it before next year. Don't hold someone's money when you can't prove the "catcher" of the winning fish did anything negligent or dishonest.
Who is running this?
Lie detector test aresults not reliable in any way and what who cares about the time frame? Seems that the good old boy network is pissed an outsider won! For now on all boats should have live feed cameras installed by the officials and secured with tamper resistant mechanisms so it can all be seen in real time!
Read the tournament rules...you must pass the test to get paid. The tournament director and test administrator have sole discretion as to if they pass/fail. If they say you failed the test you don't get the money. Should have never gone to court...Motsko should be a man and decide who won his tournament without getting lawyers involved. I prefer the Big Fish Classic...36 hours to fish, no rules, whoever brings the biggest fish to the dock wins. No lie detectors needed....
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