National Rugby League side Parramatta members "will be given a chance to claim veto rights over any bid to privatise the Eels under a proposal that will be put to them at what shapes as a fiery leagues club AGM next month," according to Adrian Proszenko of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD.
The Eels' promising start to the season could be all for naught as the club "anxiously waits for the NRL to determine whether it will be docked competition points for alleged salary cap breaches." The governing body "has called former Eels CEO Scott Seward, the scapegoat for a mounting pile of allegedly dubious practices following his departure, to provide his version of events." However, the club "will only waive a non-disclosure clause in his release to allow him to be interviewed if head office agrees for two of its officials to sit in on the meeting." The development "comes at a critical time for the club, with an AGM called for May 2." The members, if they are able to garner 100 signatures, "could table a spill or no-confidence motion in the embattled board."
They "will also be given a chance to vote on an ordinary resolution that has implications for Parramatta's ownership structure." As it stands, the board "is permitted to sell off part, or all of, the Eels without consulting its Leagues Club members." However, an ordinary resolution, requiring a 50% vote to pass, "would give the members the right to make the club a 'core property,' one that requires any privatisation to be put to the members in a special resolution." That would require a 75% majority and then, according to the constitution, "one additional vote to green light any sale" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 4/6).
