Premiership champions Saracens have confirmed they will not be contesting their points deduction and fine for breaching the league’s salary cap.
Sarries were docked 35 log points and fined £5.36 million after an inquiry into business partnerships between owner Nigel Wray and some of their players.
The club had the option to appeal the imposed sanction, but on Monday confirmed that it will accept the recent ruling of the independent panel in relation to salary cap breaches which occurred over the course of three seasons.
In a statement released on the club’s official website, Wray said they ‘did the wrong thing for the right reasons’ and accepted the penalties ‘with humility’.
‘Any review or further appeal would be a costly, time-consuming and destabilising exercise and so for the good of the game, the Premiership and this wonderful club and all its great people, a club which I have loved and served for 25 years, we have decided not to appeal but to take our punishment and hopefully soon put this behind us,’ Wray explained.
‘I recognise that the arrangements between myself and players, made in good faith, which comprise the material element of the charges, should have been brought to the attention of the salary cap manager for consultation prior to entering into them.
‘It is significant that following extensive investigations the independent panel stated that we have “not deliberately sought to circumvent the regulations” albeit we recognise that some of our actions were considered to be “reckless”.
‘As chairman, I must take full responsibility for the arrangements that led to this outcome. It is important to stress that our excellent coaching staff were not involved in these issues in any way.
‘In addition, we can confirm that we are complying strictly with the salary cap regulations in the current season and will continue to work transparently with Premiership Rugby in this regard.’
Premiership Rugby’s chief executive Darren Childs welcomed Saracens’ decision.
‘This is the right outcome for English club rugby. Bringing this process to a conclusion means that we can focus on working in partnership with all clubs to continue to build a competitive and successful league.’
As a result, Mark McCall’s side has now dropped from third to bottom of the Premiership log to sit on -22 points.
Photo: David Rogers/Getty
