Getting into the realms of incredulity now
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/r ... 8b9c&ei=6
The bonus scandal engulfing the Rugby Football Union runs even deeper than first indicated, Telegraph Sport can reveal.
The sport was rocked when the RFU’s accounts showed that chief executive Bill Sweeney was paid £1.1 million, including a bonus of £358,000, against a backdrop of 42 redundancies and a loss of £37.9 million.
Telegraph Sport has now learnt that up to 10 members of the RFU senior leadership team – below the executive directors who were awarded the controversial long term incentive plan [LTIP] bonuses – were handed promotions to become directors and included on the directors’ bonus scheme that offers bonus payments of up to 25 per cent subject to targets being met.
The RFU annual report for the 2022-23-year states “the remuneration committee reviewed and approved a new bonus scheme for leadership team members.”
The RFU has insisted that no new bonus scheme has been put in place but it is understood that around nine members of the leadership team who were “heads of department” were promoted to become directors, resulting in the opportunity to earn significantly higher annual bonuses, despite the ongoing financial challenges that led to the raft of redundancies in September and the governing body recording a record deficit this year.
Sweeney and members of the RFU executive addressed an emergency staff meeting on Monday but were later accused of giving “scripted” and “belligerent” answers to advance questions. They are now facing calls to resign.
The summit began at 2pm with a 20-minute address from chair Tom Ilube, who sought to offer context to the bonus scheme that has drawn fury from all corners of the English game over the past week.
Ilube is understood to have named consultancy Pearl Meyer, which has headquarters in Massachusetts, as the company that recommended the executive pay structure after an independent review in 2021.
This process also saw five executive directors share almost £1 million in additional bonuses. One source blasted the decision to hold a pay review in the first place.
‘No wonder people are so furious’
“What other company in the UK would come out of the pandemic and with rugby union on its knees and think the first thing they needed to do was commission an American-based company to determine whether their executive directors were being paid enough?” the source said.
“And guess what? The American-based company recommended they all get a huge new bonus. It is simply staggering. No wonder so many people are furious.”
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This is starting to make my bladder boil!
- By Lord Elpus
- By Dave L