Ricky Stuart issued a breach notice

The Canberra Raiders have been issued a breach notice following comments by coach Ricky Stuart about the refereeing during last weekend's game against Penrith.

NRL Head of Football, Mr Todd Greenberg, said the NRL had a duty to protect match officials against excessive criticism or comments which attacked their integrity.

He said the comments and language used by Ricky Stuart on the weekend were excessive and a $10,000 breach notice has been issued to the Raiders.

The Raiders now have five working days to respond to the notice and will not be making further comment on the issue.