Premiership Rugby side London Welsh Chair Bleddyn Phillips "has warned that his club are prepared to take legal action by the end of this month should no resolution be found to what he terms the 'closed shop' of professional rugby in this country," according to Tom Cary of the London TELEGRAPH.
Phillips "believes the uneven distribution of revenues" in the Premier Rugby Ltd., which sees London Welsh get around £1.5M ($2.3M) per season from a central pot compared with the £4M ($6M) given to the more established Aviva Premiership clubs, has "created a 'cabal' with the country's biggest clubs looking after their own interests rather than the good of the game."
Repeated efforts "to appeal to their sense of fair play have, he says, so far fallen on deaf ears, with the result that he and the club's advisors are now, reluctantly, exploring 'other options.'" Phillips: "We are dead serious about this."
Asked whether that constituted an ultimatum, Phillips added, "I think posing ultimata never really helps. It never really helps to point a pistol at someone's head. That said, people have been aware of what we have said for weeks and weeks and weeks, so I think it's perhaps time for a gentle reminder, that now is the time to come to a view and close down the debate" (TELEGRAPH, 1/6). The BBC reported Phillips said that the Premiership club has a plan in place for its "likely relegation." Welsh are 15 points "adrift at the bottom of the table." Phillips said that the Oxford-based club is "already preparing for life back in the Championship next season." He said, "I think it would be imprudent for any club not to prepare for any eventuality. I think, especially given where we are, we have to 'hope for the best, prepare for the worst.' I think it would be imprudent if we didn't prepare for any scenario" (BBC, 1/7).
