Smith, Stoklos Hit With Record Fine of $70,000 : Volleyball: One-tournament suspension also meted out by AVP after team skips Seal Beach Open to compete in event in Spain.

Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos, pro beach volleyball’s “Kings of the Beach,” have been fined $70,000 and suspended one tournament for skipping last weekend’s $100,000 Seal Beach Open.

The Assn. of Volleyball Professionals’ board of directors voted late Tuesday night to fine Smith and Stoklos a tour-record $35,000 each and suspend them for the $225,000 Jose Cuervo Gold Crown Classic, which starts Friday in Santa Cruz.

AVP President Jon Stevenson said Smith and Stoklos violated the tour’s players agreement by skipping the Seal Beach tournament to play in the International Volleyball Federation’s $250,000 Olympic year ’92 tournament in Almeria, Spain.

The violation carries a minimum $10,000 fine each and at least a one-tournament suspension. Smith and Stoklos’ $70,000 fine equaled the amount the team earned for winning the Spain tournament last weekend.

Smith said his and Stoklos’ appeal of the fine was rejected by the board Wednesday, and they’re considering further legal action.

“The lawyers are still working on it,” Smith said. “Randy and I don’t feel it’s fair to be fined when our goal was to go to Spain to promote the sport worldwide. But as far as the AVP is concerned, we must pay it.”

Smith said he and Stoklos could be eligible for the Jose Cuervo tournament if they paid the fine, but said “we just don’t feel it’s justified.” He said their status for the U.S. championships Aug. 28-30 at Hermosa Beach also is in doubt.

“We’re not finished with this yet,” he said of the fine.

Stevenson called it “a theoretical fine” that “takes the incentive out of going to play in other tournaments.”

“I don’t know where Sinjin wants to go from here,” Stevenson said. “He has backed himself into a corner.

“The AVP has spent a lot of time dealing with a clear-cut situation like this. This isn’t a paper trail, it’s a paper mountain.”

Stevenson said players of Smith and Stoklos’ ranking are obligated to play in a prominent tournament such as Seal Beach. Two of the tournament’s three days were televised live by NBC, and sponsors have invested millions of dollars promoting the tour.

“Their absence diminished this televised event, and their failure to meet their player agreement forced the board to impose these penalties,” Stevenson said.

Stevenson met with Smith and Stoklos last week and asked them to donate to the tour’s international fund the difference between their potential winnings in Spain and the Seal Beach prize money. Both refused.

Smith challenged the ethics of the board members--players Mike Dodd, Roger Clark, Robert Chavez, Kent Steffes and San Clemente’s Larry Mear, as well as Stevenson, a former player.

“It seems to me that there is a conflict of interest,” said Smith, a former board member, “when a group of players can benefit from fining and suspending us. Suspending us can only help their rankings.”