From The Times
London Irish are at risk of following Worcester Warriors and Wasps into financial meltdown after players and staff failed to receive their salaries for the month of April.
The American consortium involved in takeover talks with the Gallagher Premiership club informed all employees in a meeting on Friday that their money would not be paid on time.
A follow-up email was sent on Sunday with assurances that confirmation of payment would be received by Monday evening in the UK, once the banks in the United States had opened for business.
Worcester?s players and staff faced months of broken promises over unpaid salaries and potential takeovers before the club collapsed. They are all still out of pocket and some have found employment hard to come by.
The new owners of Worcester have refused to revive the club in the Championship because that would require them to pay back all rugby creditors, which would cost up to ?8 million.
Wasps are due to return in the Championship next season, having passed the RFU?s initial criteria, but the club are understood to have major funding issues. They have no coaches, no players and no home ground.
London Irish do not have the tax office chasing them, which is ultimately what triggered the collapse of Worcester and Wasps, but they are deemed to be at ?high risk? because of their debt and low annual turnover.
Although the club has a training facility that has been used by NFL teams and international rugby teams, London Irish does not own a stadium that can be used to generate non-matchday income.
There were fears last month that London Irish would be unable to pay their players but the American consortium covered the March payroll, but it has failed to do so this time.
London Irish refused to comment over the weekend. A spokesperson for the consortium deflected questions back to the club, even though the players and staff were addressed by a representative of the American investors on Friday. They were told that a deal is close.
Premiership Rugby and the RFU have been approached for comment.
The financial crisis across the league has deepened in recent years. According to a parliamentary investigation, Premiership clubs each lose, on average, ?4 million a year. Premiership Rugby failed to secure an uplift on its broadcasting deal with BT Sport. Every club is now saddled with government debt of between ?10-15 million after taking out loans to stay afloat during the pandemic.
Premiership Rugby is working to relaunch the league in 2024 as a ten-team competition, removing clashes with Test matches to ensure the England players are available more often.
Promotion and relegation is due to return at the end of next season, via a play-off between the bottom side in the Premiership and the Championship winners, but that is now highly unlikely to happen.
There is an acceptance around the Premiership that something radical needs to change if the league is to attract more investment and avoid sinking further into the financial abyss.
Always a Wasp