Both Worcester Warriors and Wasps today suffered blows that may result in their relegation from the Gallagher Premiership, as English club rugby's financial crisis continues to worsen.
At around 2:30pm on Wednesday afternoon, the RFU released a statement announcing Worcester Warriors would be suspended from all their competitions if unable to provide evidence of insurance cover in place, funds to pay the payroll, and “a credible plan to take the club forward”, by 5pm on 26 September.
The concern about a lack of contact or sustainability of Worcester's operations was the main driver behind the RFU's decision, with the statement explaining: “The RFU, Premiership Rugby and DCMS has been seeking assurances from the Worcester Warriors owners regarding funding and potential new ownership proposals for several weeks.
“We are grateful to the staff at Worcester Warriors for their hard work in being able to provide the required information to allow the games to go ahead last weekend and in the week ahead.
“However, all parties remain concerned that the lack of available funds will not allow the club to be sustainable over the long term. In particular, the RFU is aware that insurance cover is only in place until midnight on Monday 26 September.”
Worcester's men would be suspended from both the Premiership and Premiership Cup, while the women's side would be suspended from the Allianz Premier 15s and Allianz Cup.
And their non-participation in this season would surely result in relegation from the Premiership, a fate also facing Wasps.
The Times' Alex Lowe reported earlier this afternoon that Wasps had filed notice in the High Court of their intention to appoint an administrator.
Under RFU rules, that guarantees relegation unless the club can display that their financial difficulty was through no fault of their own.
Though some may argue that this situation has been impossible for Wasps to avoid due to Covid-19, the level of their debt is much more related to their failure to re-pay the £35 million bonds which helped them purchase the Ricoh Arena (now the Coventry Building Society Arena).
Wasps issued a statement attempting to clarify the reasons for the decision to appoint administrators, with the second paragraph below likely to go some way to re-assure fans.
The statement read: “Due to the impending threat of action from HMRC, Wasps Holdings Limited, the ultimate holding company of the group including Wasps Rugby Football Club and Arena Coventry Limited, have taken the difficult decision to file a notice of intention to appoint administrators in order to protect its interests.
“This measure does not mean the business is in administration but provides a crucial period of grace to continue negotiations with a number of interested parties to secure the long-term future of the group.”
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