Premiership Rugby agreed to "beef up the investigative powers of their salary cap manager" on Tuesday and announced that any clubs guilty of breaches "will be named and shamed, with sanctions including points deductions and fines," according to Gavin Mairs of the London TELEGRAPH. The move comes after Sale Sharks and former England wing Mark Cueto said “there is no way” some clubs were sticking to the cap and that it was “blatantly obvious” to everyone in rugby. Among the new measures include a whistle-blowing hotline and "more transparent, salary cap monitoring and investigation system." Premiership Rugby will now have the power to undertake an "investigatory audit." That will "include the ability to use independent experts and access records held by a club who are suspected of breaching the regulations." Any clubs suspected of breaching the salary cap, which is set at £4.5M ($7.2M) this season, will be now be "subject to a confidential disciplinary hearing with the sanction of both a points deduction and fine available" (TELEGRAPH, 10/8). The PA reported Sport Resolutions UK "will run the disciplinary procedure, appointing an independent panel of legal experts and overseeing any appeal process." Premiership Rugby Dir Phil Winstanley said, "We've created a sharper tool for the salary cap and regulations manager to follow up any information or concerns anybody may have. Any information needs to be reasonable. Clearly this won't be a fishing expedition, but where there is reasonable concern there will be greater powers available" (PA, 10/8).
