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London Irish have been given until the end of the day to pay May’s wages or face suspension from next season’s Gallagher Premiership.
The club are in the grips of crisis, with a takeover by a US-led consortium yet to go through and Mick Crossan, the club’s current owner, believed to be unwilling to fund the club into next season.
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) had set a deadline of end of business on Tuesday evening for the takeover to be completed and approved by the organisation, or for the club to show it was financially willing and able to operate throughout next season.
It was suggested on Tuesday that the RFU had offered London Irish a seven-day extension to allow the completion of the takeover, provided that players’ wages for the month of May were paid promptly.
But the RFU has confirmed that player and staff wages had not yet been paid, deferring a decision on London Irish’s future by 24 hours.
In effect, it would seem that if wages are not paid by the end of Wednesday, London Irish will be suspended from next season’s Premiership.
“The RFU Club Financial Viability Group met yesterday evening, it noted the conditions set by the RFU had not been met and considered the application for an extension to the deadline,” a statement from the RFU said.
“It was agreed to defer the decision for 24 hours to establish if the club is able to honour the commitment it has made to staff that they will be paid for the month of May. The group will meet again this evening.”
The RFU had been keen to avoid a repeat of the upheaval caused by the in-season demise of both Worcester Warriors and Wasps last season, hence setting a deadline for the completion of a long-mooted takeover.
A subsequent announcement is expected later today with greater clarity on the club’s future.
