The English Premier League, with teams like Manchester United and Manchester City throwing money at anyone that moves, plays host to some of the world’s highest-paid footballers.

The same can be said of rugby’s Premiership, although each team is constrained by a salary cap, in order to keep the playing field somewhat level.

News of Saracens’ breaching of that rule first broke last November, but now the exact details of how they worked around the £7 million cap have been laid bare in a 103-page report.

The punishment handed down – a 35-point deduction which has seen them relegated from the Premiership and a £5,3 million fine – will bring the club to its knees, although many sports fans will say that they deserve everything that comes their way.

Saracens, who won the Premiership four of the last five years, were found to have breached the salary cap in three consecutive seasons.

In order to reward players without having to pay them wages that would see the £7 million cap exceeded, the club found some creative ways to boost those individuals’ coffers.

Details below via Sky News:

Saracens owner Nigel Wray, who resigned as club chairman earlier this month, was found to have made payments totalling £1.3m by entering into property joint ventures with players.

He made a £450,000 investment in a company majority-owned by brothers Billy and Mako Vunipola [the brothers below, with Mako on the left], who were both part of the England squad at the World Cup in Japan last year.

…In the case of the Vunipolas, a house was bought by a company known as Vuniprop, funded 66% by the Vunipolas and 33% by an interest free loan by Wray.

Renovation costs were also loaned, interest free, by the chairman.

Then there’s Saracens and England star Maro Itoje (you may recall him from the Rugby World Cup final, which the Springboks won 32-12), who was also rewarded in a rather roundabout way:

Another charge was that England and Saracens lock Itoje, one of the biggest stars in the game, was paid a lump sum for three years of £30,000, £30,000, £35,000 by a company based at Saracens which did all the hospitality at their Allianz Park ground and was run by the chairman’s daughter, Lucy Wray.

The report noted that there was no evidence Itoje had attended any hospitality events and was not paid on a per-event basis, meaning it was a salary benefit and not a commercial arrangement.

Payments made to Itoje’s image rights company were also called out in the report, with Wray and two other directors having paid £1,6m for shares that were only worth around £800 000.

Saracens were also nabbed for their payments towards Chris Ashton, who played for the club between 2012 and 2017, to do with a property he purchased.

The 103-page report, and a disciplinary panel led by Lord Dyson, actually argued against Saracens being relegated, saying the punishment was too severe:

Saracens were relegated regardless. They could not prove they were able to comply with the salary cap this year, and chose to be move down a division rather than open past financial records for a full forensic audit.

Nobody wants a full forensic audit when there are so many loose threads.

Importantly, the report made no suggestion and found no evidence, that any player was complicit in any of the club’s actions.

Some may find that hard to believe, but ultimately it’s the club that is at fault for working around that salary cap, rather than players who benefitted.

Saracens’ relegation to the second tier could actually benefit some of the big-name players like Owen Farrell and Itoje, who can make the odd appearance while resting up for the Six Nations.

Perhaps Farrell can also take some classes on how to use his arms in the tackle, although the last time he tried that Cheslin Kolbe left him for dead.

It’s what world champions do.

[source:skynews]