Castleford Tigers Drop Rfl Legal Action

Rugby league club Castleford Tigers have dropped their proposed legal case
against the Rugby Football League in the wake of the punishment handed out to
rivals Wigan for breaching the Super League salary cap system last season.

Although the breach happened last season, the RFL only decided to dock Wigan
four points this year. Had the punishment been meted out last year it would have
seen Wigan relegated from the top flight instead of Castleford.

Wigan’s form improved late in the season following the arrival of Stuart
Fielden, whose signature was widely thought to have contributed to the
overspend.

Castleford had mooted the possibility of legal action against the RFL but
have decided to take the matter no further.
Castleford chief executive
Richard Wright said: ‘We have fully explored the issues with the RFL, the
decisions taken through the season and since and the reasons behind those
decisions.

‘We may not agree with everything but we do understand the difficult position
that the RFL found themselves in. At the end of the day, there is no rule that
provides for compensation or remedy for us as a result of a salary cap breach.
The rules only provide for penalties to be imposed on the club breaching the
cap.

‘As a result of our discussions and consultation with our legal advisors, we
will trust in the process and are not planning to take any further action.’

Castleford are hoping to regain their Super League status at the first
opportunity and, with plans for a new stadium underway, they also believe they
should be in a position to benefit when Super League introduces a franchise
system in 2009.

‘We were realistic in our expectations,’ added Wright. ‘We never expected to
be re-instated in Super League but we did believe we had a good case for being
given a Super League licence for 2009, possibly, subject to our new stadium
project going forward.

‘The RFL have not agreed to our request but they have explained the process
that the licence system will follow and we are reassured that our relegation
from Super League last year will not be a disadvantage to us.

‘Our case for a licence is very strong across all the criteria and it will be
difficult to find 12 clubs with stronger credentials than ours next March.’