"The Manly Warringah board has met this evening and are of the opinion that there has been serious breaches of contract by coach Des Hasler," Penn said, flanked by other board members.
"The board has invited Des to explain his actions and in the meantime he has been stood down.
"We will not be making any further comment until Des has had the chance to respond."
There were no indications as to when Hasler would front the board.
Asked whether the breaches involved Hasler attempting to induce players to leave the club and join him at the Bulldogs, Penn said:
"I'll leave that to you."
There has been speculation that the Bulldogs are circling Sea Eagles star Kieran Foran, who has a clause in his contract allowing him to walk should Hasler leave the club.
The board's actions have seemingly brought to a bitter end a successful relationship between Hasler and the Sea Eagles lasting 27 years, having joined the club as a player in 1984.
He has been coach since 2004 - taking over a club which was a rabble as it moved on from its days as the Northern Eagles and carrying them to two premierships, including this year's 24-10 triumph over the Warriors.
But it has been one saga after another since then, starting with star back Will Hopoate's decision just days later to link with Parramatta when he returns from his Mormon mission in 2014.
Then came news of Hasler's impending defection, and while the board determined Hasler would stay on for 2012, they moved quickly to install assistant Geoff Toovey as his replacement.
But it failed to stop the bleeding, with several members of Hasler's backroom staff announcing they too were off to the Bulldogs, including recruitment guru Noel Cleal and assistant coach Kelly Egan.
It is assumed Hasler's move to the Bulldogs will now be fast-tracked by 12 months, meaning current coach Jim Dymock doesn't get his one season to show his wares as he become's Hasler's assistant.
- AAP
