Saracens hit with £5m fine & points deduction for salary cap breach

Saracens hit with £5m fine & points deduction for salary cap breach

Premiership Rugby have handed Saracens a 35-point deduction and fined them over £5million after they were found to have breached salary cap regulations.

The club has been under investigation since earlier this year after details of business partnerships between owner Nigel Wray and leading players, including Maro Itoje, Owen Farrell and the Vunipola brothers, were not disclosed to Premiership Rugby.

The investigation concluded that Saracens did have a case to answer regarding alleged breaches of the cap over the past three Premiership seasons.

 
 
The case was referred to the independent Sports Resolutions disputes service, who appointed a panel which upheld the charges against Saracens after a five-day hearing in September and October.

A statement from Premiership Rugby announced: "The sanction that has been imposed on Saracens Rugby Club by the panel is a total fine of £5,360,272.31 and a total deduction of 35 league points."

The Premiership Rugby statement added: "The decision of the independent panel is that Saracens Rugby Club failed to disclose payments to players in each of the seasons 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.


"In addition, the club is found to have exceeded the ceiling for payments to senior players in each of the three seasons. The panel therefore upheld all of the charges.

"The salary cap regulations stipulate that a points deduction may be imposed in the current season (2019-20) only. The sanction has no bearing on any other domestic or European competition."



A Premiership Rugby spokesperson said: "The salary cap is an important mechanism to ensure a level playing field for Premiership clubs and maintain a competitive, growing and financially sustainable league.

"Today's decision by the independent panel upholds both the principle of the salary cap and the charges brought following an extensive investigation by Premiership Rugby.

"We are pleased that this process has reached a conclusion and we look forward to another exciting season of Premiership Rugby."

Nigel Wray commented: "This is absolutely devastating for everyone associated with this amazing group of players, staff, partners and fans. It has been acknowledged by the Panel that we never deliberately sought to mislead anyone or breach the cap and that’s why it feels like the rug is being completely pulled out from under our feet. We will appeal all the findings."

The penalty leaves the London club on -26 points in the early Premiership table.

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