National Rugby League Cronulla Sharks "are bracing for another blow to their balance books -- this time in the form of a six-figure NRL salary cap breach," according to Josh Massoud of the DAILY TELEGRAPH. Financially crippled "thanks to legal fees and sponsor trepidation from the ASADA investigation, the Sharks will be fined as a result of the previous administration's failure to properly declare player payments" to salary cap auditor Ian Schubert last year. The fine "could be as much as" A$200,000, ($191,000), although the NRL "would not confirm a figure." The club -- and others that have transgressed -- "will be sent the breach notice as soon as next week." An NRL spokesperson said, "No breach notices have been issued at this stage." A significant part of the Sharks breach "relates to sponsorship payments that former venue security provider eGroup was asked to make to a player, who has since left the club." The security firm "made the payments," believed to be around A$80,000 across '11 and '12, "in the honest belief it would be correctly classified and declared to Schubert" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 6/7).
