Under-fire ARL commissioner Mark Coyne’s fate will be decided next Thursday as chairman Peter Beattie gets set to confer with NRL clubs on whether there is an appetite for him to be sacked.

Beattie will meet with the former St George and Queensland great next Monday upon his return from holidays before the independent commission meets three days later.

Beattie wrote to the chairs and CEOs of all 16 clubs on Sunday night, asking them for their views.

He was adamant that he would not been rushed into a decision after copping criticism himself for not cutting short his own holidays in Western Australia to sort out the matter.

It’s been questioned why the commission did not have a phone hook up to discuss Coyne’s future.

But Beattie defended his handing of the matter, saying there were three commissioners overseas and Coyne deserved the opportunity to plead his case in person.

“Mark Coyne is entitled to have a face-to-face meeting with ARLC commissioners to present his case and for us then to discuss his future,” Beattie told AAP.

“A phone hook up is not good enough.

“I am sure rugby league fans would agree that if their future was being discussed, they would expect a face-to-face meeting.

“There are currently three commissioners overseas in different time zones.”

Coyne has been stood down after he was arrested and fined $4000 for swearing at police while on holidays in Singapore but is facing being thrown off the commission.

He was detained in the Southeast Asian city state for seven weeks after having his passport confiscated.

His situation is made worse by the fact it took him six weeks to inform the NRL and the commission that he had been arrested.

However he argued that he immediately informed Beattie after he was charged last Tuesday and that he feared news of his arrest would leak and create a media circus, therefore leading to the likelihood of a more harsh sentence.

Beattie said he would meet face to face with Coyne next Monday to allow him to put forward his views and version of events.

He promised to seek the opinions of clubs and state chairs before the ARLC decides Coyne’s fate at a meeting next Thursday evening.

Critics have argued that Coyne must be sacked, especially considering the hardline stance the game took on player behaviour earlier in the year with the introduction of the “no fault” stand down rule.

While Coyne’s supporters have pointed to his spotless record in his over 30 years in the game as a player and administrator and the value he has brought to the commission since he was appointed last November.