Premiership clubs could be stripped of titles for breaching salary cap following review

Gallagher Premiership teams could be stripped of their titles in future if found guilty of breaching the salary cap.

The proposed punishment is part of a series of recommendations made by former Government Minister, Lord Myners CBE, following a comprehensive, independent review of Premiership Rugby’s salary cap regulations set up by the governing body.

Lord Myners was appointed to lead the independent review after Saracens’ relegation from the Premiership back in January following persistent salary cap breaches.

Despite being deducted a total of 105 points and fined £5.36 million, Saracens have kept their Premiership titles from the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.

According to Lord Myners, around 450 individuals and organisations, including supporters and players, were consulted as part of the review, with one supporter claiming that the salary cap issue “has dragged the sport and its reputation into the gutter”.

Any changes made outside of the season to the salary cap amount and regulations will require votes from 10 of Premiership Rugby Limited’s 13 club-appointed directors. "It is important that my recommendations should be viewed as a package of measures which, if taken together, will go a long way to restoring the integrity of the regulations. They should not be viewed as a menu of options from which to pick and choose," writes Lord Myners.

The 55-page report recommends that the range and severity for salary cap sanctions are increased, along with the entry level points, with relegation, suspension, stripping of titles and return of prize money all possible punishments.

Sanctions for failure to cooperate should also be increased, while players should also be tied into the regulations for greater accountability and could face personal fines and sanctions.

Provisions for marquee players exempt from the salary cap should also be reviewed. The number of players with a total cost to their club of at least £300,000 has risen from five in the 2013-14 season to 99 players in 2019-20, with Telegraph Sport revealing last week that Premiership Rugby are seeking to scrap the marquee players exemption altogether.

“Seven of this season’s 24 highest-remunerated players are not ‘marquee’ players. The 24 players in this cohort cost their various clubs a total of £14m in 2019-20,” notes Lord Myners.

“It is clear to me, and to many others within the clubs, that the marquee-players exemption completely cut across the objectives of equality and competition and create unhelpful inflationary pressure on wages. The time is ripe for a review of their continued usefulness.”

As part of a bid for greater transparency, the report recommends that any salary cap charges should be announced within seven days, with disciplinary decisions published in full aside from the redaction of confidential information or personal data.

The report also recommends that all exceptional payments to players should be pre-approved by a Salary Cap Director, working with a deputy Salary Cap Manager, while payments which are subjective - extending beyond a player’s playing career or coming from connected parties (including sponsorship by connected parties) - should be prohibited.

To provide the Salary Cap Director with more power, Lord Myners’ report also recommends that the SCD be allowed central access to each club’s salary cap spreadsheet, with clubs required to supply copies of documents such as new contracts within 14 days. The SCD should also be enabled to attend clubs without prior notice and to request finance reports, access to management accounts and players’ tax returns.

Loaning players to other clubs was also described in the report as “particularly unsatisfactory” with the arrangements “being used as a tool to keep payrolls below the cap”, meaning tighter provisions are required.

Darren Childs, chief executive of Premiership Rugby, commented: “Premiership Rugby established an independent review of the salary cap because we want to ensure that it provides a world-leading framework for the future. We are immensely grateful to Lord Myners for his thorough and insightful work during an extensive review process.

“We welcome the comprehensive set of recommendations put forward by Lord Myners following the review and we are pleased to publish his report so that everyone has an opportunity to consider his conclusions.

“In the next stage of this process, we will consult carefully with our clubs and other stakeholders as we finalise the new salary cap regulations for the long-term benefit of our sport.”