The Ospreys have been fined £4,199 for failing to return 3,000 unsold tickets for last season's Heineken Cup quarter-final with Biarritz Olympique.

The European Rugby Cup charged the Welsh region as they "were in breach of the Commercial Rules of the 2009/10 Heineken Cup Participation Agreement".

The Ospreys were found guilty of misconduct by independent judicial officer Jeff Blackett on Wednesday.

Judge Blackett accepted the club had not acted dishonestly or obstructively.

The Ospreys lost the 10 April showpiece narrowly 29-28 and this latest ticket issue is a double quarter-final blow for the Liberty Stadium region.

Judge Blackett considered submissions on behalf of ERC disciplinary officer Roger O'Connor and the Ospreys.

An ERC statment read: "The misconduct complaint was that the Ospreys failed to return a number of unsold tickets to Biarritz Olympique for this match by the deadline of 27 March 2010 and that they were in breach of the Commercial Rules of the 2009/10 Heineken Cup Participation Agreement.

"Judge Blackett accepted that the Ospreys had not acted in a dishonest or intentionally obstructive manner.

"But he did consider that the failure to return almost 3,000 tickets within the required time period represented a clear breach of the commercial rules."

Both parties have the right to appeal the ERC decision - but the appeal must be lodged within three working days of receiving the full written decision from the chairman of the independent disciplinary committee.

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