One question still unanswered after 5-month investigation - which unnamed club breached Premiership salary cap in 2015
Lord Myners’ extensive 55-page salary cap review report published on Thursday left one question still unanswered after its five-month investigation – which club along with Saracens breached the Premiership salary cap in 2015.
Saracens were automatically relegated from the Premiership last January following repeated breaches of the salary cap, and Myners claimed the tensions that bubbled to the surface over the past winter and resulted in the demotion of the Londoners stemmed from how matters were handled years earlier.
Wasps and Harlequins were punished under the salary cap system for an “overrun tax” for relatively minor overspends in 2016, those clubs respectively paying a little over £20,000 and a little over £6,000 after their infringements were deemed to be matters of administrative oversight.
However, full disclosure regarding what occurred in 2015 eluded Myners due to how those cases against Saracens and another club that has never been formally named were settled outside formal procedures on the eve of a first hearing.
Myners wrote: “In December 2014, the salary cap manager (SCM) initiated an investigatory audit in relation to Saracens. When the SCM decided that Saracens failed to co-operate with this audit, he charged the club with a breach of the regulations and, in line with the regulations, a disciplinary panel was convened and a full hearing arranged.
“On the eve of the hearing, the disciplinary proceedings were settled and it was agreed between the clubs that the case would not be heard and that Saracens would accept undisclosed sanctions as part of the settlement.
“The salary cap regulations then in force did not provide for disciplinary proceedings to be settled. I conclude that this matter must, therefore, have been settled outside, and regardless of, the regulatory framework, with the consent of the clubs.
“It might make good sense for settlements to be reached on occasions such as these – I believe that both the Premier League and UEFA have done so – but the critical point is not to give any impression of circumventing the regulations and the officials whose role it is to enforce them in order to reach a settlement.
“In other words, it seems – and I have been given no evidence to counter this narrative – that in 2015 the clubs stepped outside the processes they had established and struck a private deal with Saracens without any explanation about the terms of the agreement with Saracens nor any apparent sense of obligation to explain the decisions.
“It is perhaps not surprising that old enmities bubbled to the surface when the 2019 breach process began and an appearance of settling old scores emerged in various press reports. This was to the detriment of the Premiership.
“Multiple sources, who I have no reason to distrust, have told me that there was at least one other top-flight club under an early stage of investigation in 2015 and that this investigation was halted in a similar way, through a negotiation and agreement outside of the regulations.
“I understand that this case centred on the role played by the club in question in securing a significant number of individual sponsorships for players which were either not disclosed to the SCM or not included in the salary cap calculation.
“Once again it appears that proper process was set aside, with decisions taken into the hands of clubs so that they could find a route to resolution outside the formal regulatory process.
Staggering outlayhttps://t.co/n3DYKWgMrN
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 14, 2020
“It strikes me that the events of 2015 were a defining moment for the salary cap. The clubs effectively pulled the rug from beneath due process and established a precedent that the regulations could be changed at any time through negotiation and mutual agreement between the clubs.”
That precedent left Myners fearful about the salary cap’s effectiveness. “This is clear evidence that no matter how robust the regulations are, if the current cap governance rules pertain, the clubs have the power to decide to ignore them and take whatever action they unanimously agree to.
“If, as appears to me the case currently, the clubs continue to adopt an attitude that the regulations and procedures are a matter for private negotiation and not a transparent process, then faith in the system (a faith already undermined by the fact that Saracens breached it for not one, but three successive seasons) will not be rebuilt.
“However much the clubs, through PRL, might try to set aside their individual interests when coming together to take decisions in the best interests of PRL, this is, in practice, a challenging thing to do.
“PRL is not alone in this. Similar challenges can arise with trade associations and mutuals – but there are opportunities here to apply principles from codes on governance and the management of such conflicts in a way that will encourage decisions and behaviour which support the clubs collectively and, beyond that, PRL and the broader rugby community.
“If all agree that a trustworthy salary cap regime is necessary for the league’s financial stability and competitiveness, it follows that the clubs must show unqualified support for regulations and actively promote confidence in the cap among all who take part in and support the game.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments