SRU silent on Dodson after fellow union chiefs take pay cut

THE SRU last night refused to say if £933,000-a-year chief executive Mark Dodson (below) will follow suit after English and Welsh counterparts announced they were taking major pay cuts to ease the financial strain on their governing bodies during the coronavirus crisis. English Rugby Union chief executive Bill Sweeney said all senior executives were taking wage reductions in excess of 25 per cent, while the combined board members’ fees would be reduced by 75 per cent. England head coach Eddie Jones will be asked to take a 25-per-cent reduction from his £750,000-a-year salary. Wales chief executive Martyn Phillips was also considering similar action. In an interview with Wales Online, he said: ‘We certainly wouldn’t ask the players to take any kind of hit in isolation. Coaches, executives, myself, we would expect them to take their fair share of anything that needs to happen. If there had to be cuts, it would be across the board. ‘My personal philosophy would be that the people who get paid the most should take the most pain. ‘Wherever possible, you try and protect people on lower incomes.’ With the English Rugby Union announcing last night that they were setting up their own £7m hardship fund to help the community game, Sweeney said: ‘Based on our planning assumption, we estimate RFU revenue losses over the next 18 months to be approximately £45m to £50m and we have a firm plan in place to mitigate this. ‘The RFU Executive Team will be taking a cut in remuneration in excess of 25 per cent. In addition, combined board fees will be reduced by 75 per cent.’

Sportsmail last night contacted the SRU, who set up a £500,000 hardship fund to help struggling clubs before any other home union, but were told that they would not be discussing their financial situation.