National Rugby League side Parramatta Eels has been found A$3M ($2.2M) in breach of the salary cap since '13, with NRL CEO Todd Greenberg describing the 12-point docking as a "heartbreaking day" for the club's fans and players, according to Michael Chammas of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD.
Greenberg and the NRL's head of integrity unit "fronted the media on Tuesday morning, shedding light on the three month investigation which has seen the club's finals hopes dashed" as well as a A$1M ($749,000) fine and the deregistration of five officials. Greenberg:
"This is the day no one in rugby league wanted to see."
Nick Weeks "unveiled the depth of deception by the club, with the evidence compiled" suggesting the Eels had A$3M of undisclosed payments to players since '13 to answer for.
Weeks said,
"In monetary terms, we estimate the club made promises of remuneration that haven't been disclosed to the NRL at about A$3 million since 2013 in aggregate." However, coach Brad Arthur said that the players "had not given up making the finals come September, a mathematical possibility should the club get itself under the salary cap before their next game against the Rabbitohs at Pirtek Stadium on May 13" (SMH, 5/3).
OFFICIALS FACE EXPULSION: In Sydney, Barrett & Olding reported audio recordings of Parramatta board meetings are at the center of findings by NRL investigators "that have crippled the Eels' season and, in an unprecedented move, left three board members and two club officials facing expulsion from the game."
Five Parramatta club officials -- Chair Steve Sharp, directors Tom Issa and Peter Serrao, CEO John Boulous and Football Operations Manager Daniel Anderson -- "have been singled out, but on Tuesday afternoon won a last-minute reprieve in the Supreme Court against their immediate deregistration from the NRL." Sources said that "the club hierarchy was left stunned by the extent of the allegations, laid out in a breach notice running to nearly 60 pages and which, it can be revealed, included conversations from recorded board meetings." All board meetings "were recorded on a dictaphone by former CEO Scott Seward's executive assistant for minute-taking purposes." However, the recordings "were also kept on the club's computer server, and are understood to have been discovered when NRL investigators pored over their files, which totalled more than 750,000 documents." Board members "were aware the meetings were being recorded, and some questioned whether they should be" (SMH, 5/3).
IN DENIAL: Also in Sydney, Phil Rothfield wrote last Thursday, Weeks walked into Greenberg's office "with his spreadsheets and the grim findings." They "both delivered the news to the independent commission later that day." Still, Greenberg "could not reach his final decision on a penalty." The commission agreed A$1M "was the right fine." All weekend, Greenberg "tossed and turned over a fair points deduction." In the end, "they got off lighter than Melbourne Storm and the Bulldogs." Not only "did they leave such an obvious trail of dishonesty and deception through board minutes, emails and text messages, their actions in spending more than their rivals amounted to nothing." They "came nowhere near the finals (2012 Wooden spoon, 2013 wooden spoon, 2014 10th and 2015 12th.)" Greenberg "summed it up best" with his comment, "This is the most poorly managed club in the competition. We've tried everything with their board and officials to come forward and to be honest and upfront and all we've got is denial" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 5/3).
EELS WIN REPRIEVE: In a separate piece, Barrett & Olding reported five Parramatta club officials "have won a last-minute reprieve in the Supreme Court against their deregistration from the NRL."
Late on Tuesday, Justice Rowan Darke "enacted interim orders temporarily preventing the NRL from restricting the functions of the directors and club officials of the Parramatta National Rugby League Club Ltd."
The five men "launched an urgent bid to stave off deregistration late on Tuesday, accusing the NRL of denying them procedural fairness and of potentially breaching company law" (SMH, 5/3).
