Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney is set to face demands for his sacking after a community games rebellion tabled its request for a special general meeting amid a tense night between the warring parties.
The letter sent to the RFM on Thursday includes a total of 141 signatories, easily exceeding the 100 member clubs required to run an SGM under the governing body’s rules.
A statement released by the Rugby Football Referees Union (RFRU), which is leading the mass rebellion, revealed that the initial resolution to be discussed at the SGM would include a recommendation for the board to terminate Sweeney’s employment “as soon as possible”.
RFU chairman Tom Ilube has been the main target of the rebellion, but he stepped down last month in response to an outcry over the executive pay and bonuses scandal that has engulfed Twickenham.
RFM president Tom Ilube stepped down last month
After receiving the letter, however, the RFM claimed that it contained “a number of inaccuracies” and that it “does not meet the relevant requirements and is therefore invalid as a demand by SGM”.
It also said the nine professional referees it employed had resigned from the RFRU, with officials saying “we have not endorsed any statement or match they have made”.
A spokeswoman for the 141 clubs seeking a no-confidence motion against Sweeney hit back, claiming the RFA was using technicalities to avoid being held accountable.
“The RFM can play as long as they want, but this is a mass movement by a stronger, united team,” the spokesman said.
“Splitting hairs over the rules of what is or isn’t a valid form of protest is just delaying the inevitable.”
The RFC’s accounts, published in November, revealed that Sweeney received a salary of £1.1m for the 2023-24 financial year, made up of a £742,000 pay rise and a £358,000 bonus.
Bonuses totaling almost £1m were paid to a further five executives, despite the RFU reporting an operating loss of £37.9m for 2023-24, its highest ever.
In addition, 42 staff were cut in September, England’s men’s team won just five of their 12 matches in 2024 and crowd attendance is falling.
Other areas of contention mentioned in the letter to the RFM were excessive bureaucracy and mismanagement, the reduction of development officers, the “debit” of the introduction of a new “tackle” in the community game and the cost of sacking former England manager Eddie Jones.
Eddie Jones was sacked as England manager in December 2022 after seven years in the job
“What you are seeing is the result of years of frustration which has affected every level of our game,” Chichester RFC chairman Paddy McAlpine said.
“Now it’s fueled by the anger of the clubs that the executive has been paid their bonuses. Every club I know wants to see change at the top.”
Last month, at an extraordinary session of the RFM Council, it was announced that the organization suffered “authorial damage” due to the salary scandal.
Ilube oversaw its remuneration committee, which was responsible for the introduction of the Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) bonus scheme designed to retain managers during the pandemic, which has created uproar.
An independent review of the LTIP scheme is carried out by a law firm.
