London: English Premiership rugby clubs on Friday settled a dispute over lost revenue during next year’s World Cup with the Rugby Football Union (RFU) for a reported compensation package worth £13 million (Dh77.8 million).
The clubs were concerned by the prospect of loss of income streams caused by the disruption of hosting the tournament in England, British media reported. The clubs feared a possible spell of five months without income.
As part of the settlement, the 2015-16 league season will start on October 17 after the International Rugby Board (IRB) granted dispensation for club games to be staged during the knockout phase of the tournament.
“It’s a reflection of the strength of the partnership that, once again, we have managed to come to an arrangement that benefits both the RFU and clubs,” RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie said.
“We’re very happy to continue to invest significant sums into Premiership Rugby and to support their desire to be successful on and off the pitch.”
The RFU will now reallocate pounds 6 million of match revenue to Premiership clubs, with a further pounds 7 million incentivised upon the success of the World Cup and the signing of a new heads of agreement.
“We are very happy to continue to invest significant sums into Premiership Rugby and to support their desire to be successful on and off the pitch,” Ritchie said.
“By the very nature of the deal, the more successful the RFU is, the more the clubs benefit, while it is good that Premiership Rugby continue to use Twickenham to develop their competition.
“It is also significant that there is an incentive to conclude negotiations swiftly around a new long-term ‘heads of agreement’ that has proved so successful to date.”
IRB and Rugby World Cup chairman Bernard Lapasset added: “Rugby World Cup Limited has approved the commencement of the 2015/16 English Premiership season at the quarter-final stage of Rugby World Cup 2015 after being fully satisfied of key scheduling and player release considerations by the RFU.”
“Rugby World Cup is about celebrating Rugby and with all parties committed to ensuring that England 2015 has rugby and fans at heart, this announcement is good for international and domestic rugby and will further Rugby World Cup 2015 as a celebration for all rugby fans,” the Frenchman said.
As part of the agreement, England coach Stuart Lancaster will name his next elite player squad on October 22.
The delay in selecting the squad — moved from its original slot in August — means Lancaster can pick players who are in form for November’s home internationals against world champions New Zealand, South Africa, Samoa and Australia.
Premiership Rugby chief executive Mark McCafferty said: “We have resolved a challenging issue in a mutually beneficial way through productive discussions over the last few months, largely behind the scenes.
