Sarries admit guilt in salary-cap scandal
Shamed Saracens do a U-turn in salary-cap scandal by accepting 35-point penalty and £5.36m fine
SARACENS have finally admitted guilt in the salary-cap scandal and accepted the 35-point penalty and £5.36million fine that resulted from their ‘recklessness’.
On another extraordinary day in the saga, Eddie Jones raised fears his England stars may choose club over country and skip the Six Nations as Saracens concentrate on the fight for Premiership survival.
And the club’s chief sponsor Allianz refused the chance to back Sarries categorically, instead revealing they want to hold talks to seek assurances about whether the club shares their high standards of ‘integrity and transparency’.
Following two weeks of legal advice, Saracens announced yesterday lunchtime that they would no longer be reviewing the judgment of the independent panel. That was a dramatic U-turn from their initially indignant response to what they called ‘heavy-handed sanctions’.
The club admitted making mistakes and perhaps ‘having done the wrong thing for the right reasons’, while multi- millionaire owner Nigel Wray took ‘full responsibility’ for the breach.
The unprecedented punishment means the European and Premiership champions face a mighty battle for survival, with the points deduction dropping them to the bottom of the table on minus-22 points — 26 adrift of second-bottom Leicester.
Judging by previous seasons, they would need to win 14 of their 18 remaining matches to stay up.
With the Six Nations starting in just over two months, Jones raised doubts over whether the England stars at the club — who include Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje, Billy and Mako Vunipola and Elliot Daly — would make themselves available.
‘It could have a significant impact,’ he told BBC Sport. ‘It’s something we need to weigh up and look at very carefully.’
Jones, a former Saracens director of rugby who picked seven Sarries for the World Cup final, also noted the scandal may cause friction within the England camp.
‘Obviously there may be some dislocation between Saracens players and the rest of the clubs. That’s a reality,’ he said.
‘So we may have to work to mend those relationships and there might be some Saracens players who feel like they’ve got to play for their club instead of their country, to make sure they don’t go down. We’ll weigh all those up as they come about.’
Saracens will hold talks tomorrow with their entire squad, but insisted yesterday that they are currently complying with the salary cap and will not have to offload players or seek pay cuts. The co-investment partnerships between Wray and star players such as Farrell and the Vunipola brothers are also allowed to remain.
The technical breaches that the club were found guilty of appear to have been in relation to the equity involved in the co-investment partnerships, in the form of property, meaning the co-investments are permitted providing there is a transparency regarding remuneration to players.
Wray had faced pressure to stand down as chairman but it appears he will continue.
In his statement yesterday, Wray said: ‘I recognise the arrangements between myself and players, made in good faith, should have been brought to the attention of the salary-cap manager for consultation.
‘It is significant that following extensive investigations the independent panel stated that we have “not deliberately sought to circumvent the regulations” albeit we recognise that some of our actions were considered to be “reckless”.
‘As chairman, I must take full responsibility for the arrangements that led to this outcome.
‘In addition, we can confirm that we are complying strictly with the salary cap regulations in the current season and will continue to work transparently with Premiership Rugby in this regard.’
Despite Saracens’ assertion that they are complying with the cap, and will be transparent with Premiership Rugby (PRL) helped by a new board member for governance, there remains intense scepticism among rival clubs.
It is likely the regulations will be tightened up and the sanctions made more stringent, due to a view among some chairmen that Saracens have got off lightly.
PRL will also face pressure to remove the cups from Saracens’ trophy cabinet, even if they are not awarded to another club.
Darren Childs, chief executive of Premiership Rugby, said: ‘We welcome Saracens’ decision to accept the verdict of the independent panel and are pleased the club has crucially reaffirmed its commitment to the Premiership Rugby salary cap. This is the right outcome for English club rugby.’
In the joint statement, Wray said: ‘We have made mistakes and so, with humility, we must accept these penalties. As a club, we will now pull together and meet the challenges that lie ahead.
‘We confirm our commitment to the salary cap, and the underlying principle of a level playing field, and will continue to work transparently with Premiership Rugby in this regard.’
The independent panel upheld all of the charges brought by PRL against Saracens, finding that they had ‘failed to disclose payments to players and exceeded the ceiling for payments to senior players’ in each of the 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.
In addition to the £5.36m fine, Saracens are likely to be hit with a large legal bill to cover PRL’s investigation and the work of the panel, the sum of which is to be determined by the independent disciplinary panel in a separate costs exercise.
The £5.36m fine is likely to be split between the clubs in the Premiership at the time of Saracens’ indiscretions.
Further fallout could come in the way of lost sponsorship. Yesterday Allianz, who sponsor both the club and stadium and have a deal until 2021, did not comment on the disciplinary process, but said: ‘At Allianz, we act with transparency and integrity and living up to these high standards is important to us.
‘We will be holding discussions with the club to confirm this shared understanding and commitment going forward.’
Several of Saracens’ smaller sponsors declined to comment.