Saracens hit with further double blow
SARACENS have been handed an additional 70-point deduction that ensures they will be relegated from the Gallagher Premiership in bottom place just hours after Ed Griffiths departed as interim chief executive.
In the latest twist to the salary cap scandal to have engulfed the double winners, Premiership Rugby have announced that their total points deduction will now stand at 105 after they were initially docked 35 in November.
PRL had already decided Saracens will be relegated in June following repeated breaches of the £7m ceiling for player wages enforced by the league, and this additional sanction guarantees they will finish the 2019-20 season in 12th place.
The clarification over the mechanism for their demotion to the second tier of English rugby means their new points total is minus 77, leaving them 89 adrift of Leicester in 11th place.
In addition, PRL have amended two salary cap regulations in mid-season following unanimous approval of the 13 constituent clubs.
Now any club can be subjected to a mid-season audit should they be in breach of or are suspected of being in breach of salary cap regulations. Failure to comply could result in a 70-point deduction.
The announcement came on the day the scandal claimed another victim after interim CEO Griffiths stepped down with immediate effect.
Griffiths departs just 26 days into the 12-month contract that brought him back to Allianz Park for a second spell designed to steer the double winners through the crisis.
Griffiths joins former chairman Nigel Wray and former chief executive Mittesh Velani in leaving positions made untenable by the scandal that has plunged the double winners into tier two of English rugby.
“This was always going to be a very short-term appointment and others are well-placed to drive forward the rebuilding of the club,” Griffiths said.
In a short statement released yesterday afternoon, new Saracens chairman Neil Golding thanked Griffiths for his time in a role that began on January 2, with the recruitment process for his successor already having gotten underway.
“The club is very grateful to Edward for temporarily stepping away from his other commitments to provide significant assistance during a difficult period, and wishes him well in the future,” the statement said.