Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates has handed over a dossier of relevant material from the Nick D’Arcy case to the NRL as rugby league considers following his organisation's lead by choosing to ban participants who have been charged with serious criminal offences.

The Australian Rugby League Commission is in the process of reviewing its disciplinary policy after vowing to come down harder on players who tarnish its brand. The game’s ultimate decision, to be delivered at next Thursday’s annual general meeting, will have implications for Jack de Belin, as officials weigh up whether to stand him down despite the fact he has pleaded not guilty to aggravated sexual assault.

AOC President John Coates has shared the Nick D'Arcy files with the NRL. Credit:Matt King

The AOC has the power to ban athletes charged with offences akin to the one de Belin is facing. In 2008, swimmer D’Arcy was cut from the Olympic team to Beijing after being charged with assault occasioning grievous bodily harm. The decision withstood two appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after it was ultimately determined the AOC’s by-laws empowered it to suspend D’Arcy.

The issue was brought to the fore by lawyer Darren Kane in a column he wrote for the Herald on Saturday, piquing the NRL’s interest in the D’Arcy case. Coates has passed on the case files and amended by-laws to NRL CEO Todd Greenberg, chief operating officer Nick Weeks and ARLC chairman Peter Beattie to consider.