English rugby faces government on club financial crisis

Mon, Oct 17, 2022
Soccer News (AP)

LONDON (AP) - English rugby bosses are headed to a parliamentary hearing next month to address the game's financial crisis.

Wasps joined Worcester in administration on Monday, making 167 members of staff including players and coaches redundant. Both clubs had already been suspended from the Premiership, leaving 11 teams.

Officials from the English Rugby Football Union and Premiership Rugby are set to appear before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee next month to answer questions on the problems facing those clubs and the wider sustainability of the club game. A date was still to be confirmed.

"The fact that two of the country's top clubs have now suffered the fate of falling into administration raises serious concerns about the future of the sport and its financial viability," DCMS committee chair Julian Knight said.

"The RFU and Premiership Rugby have acknowledged the need to set a more sustainable path for club rugby. We will be pressing them to ensure they are putting the foundations in place to guarantee the health of the sport from the top level right down to the grassroots."

Wasps were hit by by a winding-up order from the revenue department for 2 million pounds in unpaid tax, and they also faced having to repay a 35 million pounds bond which helped to finance the club's relocation from London to Coventry in 2014.

Wasps was a founding member of the Premiership when it began 25 years ago, and won it in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2008. It was also crowned European champion twice, in addition to achieving one European Challenge Cup, and fielding some of England's most well-known players during rugby's professional era.

RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney said it supported a move to a 10-team Premiership from the 2024-25 season on to try and avoid the overlap between domestic and international matches.

"That's held us back in England," Sweeney said. "So a reduction in the size of PRL (Premiership Rugby Limited) will help us with that."

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