Scarlets poised for legal battle

THE Scarlets are preparing to go to war with their regional colleagues and the WRU after seeing their mediation case for extra funding fail.

Chairman Nigel Short is now preparing to take legal action to try to win the battle to stay ahead of the other three regions in the race for the biggest slice of the £26m handed out to Wales’ four professional teams.

It means that as world rugby goes into financial meltdown, the game in Wales is poised to become embroiled in a legal battle that could cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Unhappy with their apportionment of funds agreed by the Professional Rugby Board, the Scarlets pursued a mediation action against the WRU. That was considered by the WRU Board last week and thrown out, paving the way for a full-on legal fight.

As the most successful performer on the field in recent seasons – they won the PRO12 title in 2017, reached the final again a year later and also went to the semi-finals of the Champions Cup in 2018 – the Scarlets had enjoyed a bigger slice of the commercial pie than their rivals in recent years.

But since the creation of the seven-strong PRB last year Scarlets haven’t had things all their own way.

The failed bid to amalgamate with the Ospreys caused more turmoil and led to questions as to why the Scarlets had received up to £4m more than some of their rivals over a twoyear period.

Their move to mediation was described by one insider as “appalling and abhorrent” at a time when the game all over the world is facing dire financial hardship.

Scarlets posted a profit of £166,773 for the 2018-19 financial year. That compared to a loss of £643,035 the previous year and was made possible by directors writing off £4,601,879 in loans.

The figures showed the Scarlets’ turnover rose from £11,868,110 to £14,423,362, with a whopping £9,936,117 coming from the WRU coffers via the funding agreement with the regions.

The real worry for all four regions at present is the sharp drop in revenue they can expect to receive from the WRU as a result of Covid-19 with hand-outs set to plummet from £26m to a potential £3m.