A university rugby team travelling to play a match in Amsterdam were banned from travelling back on the same ferry route after one team member allegedly urinated over a table where a family were eating dinner.
The alcohol-fuelled incident, which took place in February, led to the team having to find an alternative way home to Cardiff after ferry company P&O stopped them from using their return tickets.
The rugby club, made up of medical students, were booked on a late-night departure heading to Calais from Dover.
A P&O spokesperson said: “Unfortunately, their behaviour was such that we had to explain that we would not offer them the return journey. The behaviour was so appalling we didn’t have a moment’s hesitation in banning them from coming back with us.”
Cardiff University’s student newspaper, Gair Rhydd, reported an anonymous student as saying that a rugby player, wearing a Cardiff University hoodie, was “so drunk they pissed in someone’s food”.
The newspaper quoted another source as saying: “It was 100% a medic student that did it, although I’m not sure whether they actually pissed in the food or just on the table.”
The newspaper stated the culprit had not been named – and that his teammates were unwilling to single him out and leave him open to potentially career-damaging disciplinary action.
A Cardiff University spokesman said they had been informed of the club’s behaviour but had not received any formal complaints from the ferry company or the family believed to have had their on-board meal ruined.
The spokesman added: “As far as we have been able to establish we have not received a formal complaint. The alleged behaviour is certainly not what we expect of our students.
“However, on receiving this information, we are investigating and will need to consider what action will need to be taken.”
The university medical society’s website boasts it provides a lively social life for those who choose to study in the Welsh capital. It says: “The social team organise the biggest and best socials for medical students. With a huge variety of events, there’s something to suit every taste! They are definitely a highlight in the year!”
But Student Union president Elliot Howells has vowed such drunken binges would not be tolerated, saying if any student was found to have acted in such a way “appropriate action would be taken”.
He said: “This type of behaviour is not condoned by the Students’ Union and we convey this message strongly to sports teams during their yearly induction sessions.”
