Very interesting legal view on Wuss' plight form the excellent "Rugby & the Law" website, althougha few weeks old
http://rugbyandthelaw.com/2022/10/09/will-worcester-warriors-avoid-relegation-premiership-rugby-rfu-no-fault-insolvency/A lot in the about the covid clause that would also apply to Wasps I think
"If Worcester were able to prove that the Club entering administration and suffering a winding up order would not have occurred but for the COVID-19 pandemic, it would be deemed that the Club has suffered no-fault Insolvency Events, such that the RFU may reverse its decision on relegation or impose a reduced sanction.
The test for a no-fault Insolvency Event is a simple one. It seemingly does not require that events beyond the club’s control are the sole cause of the Insolvency Event(s), it merely requires the RFU to ask: “had the event(s) beyond the club’s control not happened, would the Insolvency Event(s) have occurred?”. If the answer to that question is “no”, then the no-fault test is satisfied.
Therefore, if Worcester could show that, without the COVID-19 pandemic, the Club would not have entered administration or had a winding up order made against it, the no-fault test would be met.
The Club may have had financial concerns previously,[3] and many questions are (rightly) being asked of the owners’ conduct.[4] However, it is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on Worcester’s business (as it did for all professional rugby clubs). For example, the company accounts for WRFC Trading Limited suggest that, as a result of the pandemic, the Club’s operating profit of £12.9 million in the 2019 financial year became a £4 million loss in 2020.
Further, it is notable that the appointment of administrators was triggered by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, in respect of the loan given to the Club as part of the government’s Sports Winter Survival Package, during the pandemic.[5] As a wholly owned subsidiary of WRFC Trading Limited, it would seem inevitable that these COVID-induced financial difficulties affected WRFC Players Limited, too.
It is likely that Worcester would need to provide expert (accountancy) evidence in order to satisfy the RFU of the causal effects of the pandemic, however, on the basis of publicly available information, it would certainly seem open to the Club to argue that “but for” COVID-19, these Insolvency Events would not have occurred.
However, that is only half the battle. The Club would also need to persuade the RFU to exercise its discretion under Regulation 5.5.9 to reduce or waive the sanction imposed (i.e., relegation).
In this regard, the principle of proportionality (which must be respected by sports governing bodies in the imposition of sanctions)[6] will likely be key. The Club would likely emphasise the serious effects that relegation would have, particularly in the context of the Club’s attempts to seek new investment and its already precarious financial position. In such circumstances, relegation may be ruinous. The effects not only on the club itself but also on the local community, professional and academy players will also need to be considered.
It is particularly notable that there was not due to be relegation from the Premiership at the end of this season, as part of the RFU’s COVID-19 recovery plan.[7] Thus, if the RFU accepts that COVID-19 was a “but for” cause of Worcester’s Insolvency Events, it would be wholly inappropriate (and disproportionate) for the Club to be relegated."
Always a Wasp