RFU Suspends Administration-bound Worcester Warriors
Gallagher Premiership rugby union club Worcester Warriors has been suspended from playing by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), as the financially troubled club enters administration.
The Warriors had been given an ultimatum by the RFU, to prove it had a ‘credible’ plan for its future by 17:00 BST on Monday 26th September or face suspension from competing in its competitions. The deadline has passed, and as a result the club has been placed into administration, leaving it condemned to a severe points deduction or relegation.
As per competition rules, the men’s team has banned from the Premiership and the women’s side from the Premier 15s.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Worcester’s biggest creditors following a coronavirus-related £14m loan through Sport England, said it had agreed to the directors’ request to place Worcester into administration.
As well as the lack of ‘credible’ plan, the rugby union club failed to provide insurance guarantees and the ability to meet payroll.
After failing to secure the “critically needed funding“, in a statement Warriors owners Jason Whittingham and Colin Goldring said putting the club into administration was “the best solution to safeguard the interests of the business and ensure the best chances of a solution that saves the club.”
Whittingham and Goldring’s statement continued, “We are grateful to DCMS and Sport England as the Covid-19 loan programme manager for accepting our request to place the club into administration.
“Both the club and DCMS will continue to co-ordinate efforts to find a rescue for the club if there is any possibility of it being saved.
“The administrators will assess any rescue options for some or all of the business as and when offers are made, while ensuring public funds are protected.”
A potential new owner has been in offing for weeks, with the club’s former chief executive Jim O’Toole heading up a consortium interested in saving the club. The deal has yet to materialise as O’Toole was not prepared to advance until it was put into administration. Therefore, the latest developments could push the sale forward.
Worcester’s best chance of survival and a return to the Premiership this season is for the administrators to swiftly secure the investors that can satisfy the RFU’s financial requirements.
The latest news underlines a difficult period for Premiership Rugby. On announcing the decision on Worcester, the RFU Chief Executive, Bill Sweeney, declared that the whole business model of rugby union in England needs to be improved.
The fixture schedule and broadcast commitments will be affected by Worcester’s departure and serious concerns remain over Wasps, which filed notice of its intention to appoint administrators last week.
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