Exeter lead calls for rise in pay allowance for academy players
Threshold of £30,000 to form part of review Figure is ‘detrimental’ to development, say clubs
Exeter and a host of Premiership clubs are calling for an increase in the pay allowance for academy players as part of Lord Myners’s review of the salary cap.
The current £30,000 threshold – which includes salary, fees and bonuses – for under 24-yearolds is “difficult” and “counterproductive” for developing young English talent, a senior club source said.
Regulations state “for the avoidance of doubt, if total salary paid to an academy player is, in any salary cap year, in excess of £30,000, the academy player shall be treated as a senior player for the purposes of the regulations”.
A higher or sliding-scale threshold would, the clubs believe, benefit English players at the age of 22 and 23 who are still developing.
‘Clubs are being forced into really difficult calls’
“As it stands clubs are being forced into really difficult decisions and it’s to the detriment of developing talent,” a club source said.
Lord Myners is certain to examine the current academy threshold as part of his independent review, which will strengthen Premiership Rugby’s ability to check on club expenditure in time for the next campaign.
Premiership Rugby announced a comprehensive independent review in December in an attempt to ward off criticism following the breach by Saracens, who have now accepted relegation.
According to the domestic league, all aspects of the salary cap regulations will be strength-tested.
The process to clean up the sport aims to “result in a set of recommendations to be delivered in the second quarter of 2020” that could be implemented ahead of next season, the league said.
Lord Myners, a former Marks and Spencer chairman, was called in after a prior independent panel, led by barrister Lord Dyson, found Saracens had failed to disclose payments to players in each of the 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, and had also exceeded the ceiling for payments to senior players.