Saracens statement: Club finally break silence on relegation

After it was officially confirmed last night, Saracens have broken their silence on relegation and released a club statement.

The statement reads:

“The Board of Saracens wishes to unreservedly apologise for the mistakes made in relation to the Salary Cap Regulations.

Continue reading below…

WATCH: After a first-half onslaught from some ferocious Yamaha defence, Dan Carter hit back with two classy assists for Kobe after taking some brutal hits. The man still has the Midas touch.

“Our goal is to rebuild confidence and trust. The first step was to appoint a new independent chairman to lead on governance reform ensuring errors of the past are not replicated in the future. Furthermore, following open and frank discussions with PRL, we have accepted the unprecedented measure of automatic relegation from the Premiership at the end of the 2019-2020 season.

“We understand this decision will be difficult for the Saracens family to accept. The Board must embody the values of the club, learn from its mistakes so the Club can come back stronger. It is in the wider interests of the Premiership and English rugby to take this decisive step, to ensure everybody is able once again to focus on the game of rugby, which we all love.

EXCLUSIVE:

The latest from the unfolding drama at Saracens from @chrisjonespress https://t.co/aXsgVDB87T

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 18, 2020

“We hope that we can now start to move forward, begin to restore confidence and over time, rebuild trust with PRL, its stakeholders and the wider rugby community.”

Yesterday Darren Childs, Chief Executive of Premiership Rugby, said: “Premiership Rugby is prepared to take strong action to enforce the regulations governing fair competition between our clubs. At the conclusion of dialogue with Saracens about their compliance with the Salary Cap Regulations, it has been decided that Saracens will be relegated at the end of this season.

'The snowball is finally becoming an avalanche and the Saracens salary cap saga is undeniably now the biggest scandal ever to hit English club rugby'

– writes @AndyGoode10 https://t.co/AW7CJzRHB5

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 18, 2020

“At the same as enforcing the existing regulations, we want to ensure a level playing field for all clubs in the future, which is why we have asked Lord Myners to carry out an independently-led review of the Salary Cap. As part of this process, we will soon be announcing an open consultation so that everyone involved in the game has the opportunity to contribute to its future.

“The actions that we have taken – dealing with breaches of the current regulations and reviewing the system for the future – will help us to build a stronger league and uphold the confidence of supporters.”

Following the decision over Saracens’ relegation, the club will continue to compete in Gallagher Premiership Rugby through to the end of the 2019-20 season.