Rebels issue demand for RFU chief Sweeney sacking

On Thursday night, grassroots rebels erupted in a row to demand that Bill Sweeney be fired, only to have the Rugby Football Union reject a petition asking for a vote on the future of their under-fire chief executive.

The collective, which includes 10 second-tier Championship clubs, various refereeing bodies and lower-level clubs from across the country, had called for the RFU board to dismiss Sweeney “as soon as practicably possible”.

Sweeney’s £1.1m compensation package, which coincided with record financial losses for the governing body and a round of job losses, topped their list of complaints.

The rebels’ 152 clubs and bodies, far beyond the 100 required for a Special General Meeting and a vote on Sweeney’s future, have their backs.

The RFU quickly, however, rejected the request for a summit meeting of their nearly 2, 000 members and a final confrontation over Sweeney, claiming the no-confidence motion lacked the necessary signatures.

“The letter contains a number of inaccuracies”, the RFU added in a statement. It discomplies with the applicable requirements, and it becomes inadmissible as an SGM requisition.

The motion’s authors now intend to resubmit their paperwork and demand that it be put to a vote.

“The RFU can play for time all it likes, but this is a mass movement by a stronger, united team”, said a spokesperson for the collective.

A valid complaint form is simply delayed by squabbling about the laws governing what constitutes or isn’t a valid one.

Former chairman Tom Ilube, part of the RFU’s renumeration committee who approved Sweeney’s recent bonus, stepped down in December.

However, his departure and the start of an independent review of the scheme that increased Sweeney’s and five other executives’ salaries have not been successful.

A special general meeting would be held during the men’s Six Nations if Sweeney’s critics could provide the necessary paperwork.

Numerous club representatives made an explanation of why they voted in favor of the motion for no confidence.

” The recent decision of the RFU to award bonuses to senior staff is beyond belief, “said David Morton, secretary of sixth-tier Carlisle.

The RFU continues to praise community rugby as the game’s lifeblood while also claiming to treat them as paupers.

” Every club I know wants to see change at the top, new leadership and a new approach to taking English rugby forward at all levels, “added Paddy McAlpine, chairman of Chichester, who are also in tier six.