{"id":373234,"date":"2024-03-05T23:30:01","date_gmt":"2024-03-06T00:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=373234"},"modified":"2024-03-06T01:02:50","modified_gmt":"2024-03-06T01:02:50","slug":"rebels-demand-crisis-meeting-as-inevitable-legal-action-dawns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=373234","title":{"rendered":"Rebels demand crisis meeting as 'inevitable' legal action dawns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melbourne Rebels<\/a> administrators have demanded Rugby Australia meet by 5pm on Wednesday to resolve financial issues and safeguard the embattled team's future.<\/p>\n

The Super Rugby Pacific<\/a> team is $20 million in debt and on the brink of liquidation.<\/p>\n

It is thought the team's place in this year's competition is safe although its future is in serious doubt beyond that.<\/p>\n

Watch all the action from the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season, with<\/strong><\/em> every match ad-free, live and and on demand on Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

According to The Sydney Morning Herald<\/a>, the Rugby Victoria-appointed board told Rugby Australia of its intentions late last week in a 10-page document.<\/p>\n

Legal action is "inevitable", reports the Herald, if a meeting does not take place.<\/p>\n

\"Rob<\/p>\n

The Rebels claim an $11 million debt to the Australian Taxation Office is the responsibility of Rugby Australia as the governing body and the club are in a partnership.<\/p>\n

Under the collective bargaining agreement, Rugby Australia has upheld its obligation to that partnership by fulfilling player payments.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'I'm hooked': US scribe's ambitious plan for NRL<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Wild F1 accusation emerges about Las Vegas drama<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Olympics relief as Mills handed NBA lifeline<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

According to the Herald, "The Rebels' only asset is a licence which gives them the right to participate in a Super Rugby competition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It adds, "With no other commercial activities, the Rebels argue their sole purpose is to assist the governing body in meeting its broadcast and media rights obligations together with their responsibilities under the Joint Venture Agreement with New Zealand."<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Rebels claim Rugby Australia knows its Super Rugby Pacific teams are underfunded and financially stressed.<\/p>\n

The Rebels also allege Rugby Australia were "misleading and deceptive" in regards to funding promises to Super Rugby Pacific clubs.<\/p>\n

The Rebels and other clubs expected more investment from Rugby Australia off the back of a promised $150-$250 million private equity injection that was ultimately not forthcoming.<\/p>\n

Backdropping threats of legal action against the governing body was Super Round, which somewhat ironically took place in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

NEW PODCAST! Morgan Turinui, Joe Wheeler, and Sean Maloney recap all the action from Super Round in Melbourne\ufeff<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/between-two-posts-1\/tahs-heroics-sizzling-red-heads\/embed?in_playlist=podcast<\/a><\/p>\n

In the days after Super Round, Rugby Australia met with its Super Rugby Pacific clubs, member unions, and the Rugby Union Players' Association.<\/p>\n

The Reds, Waratahs, and Western Force were all quoted in a press release, but not the Rebels.<\/p>\n

According to Rugby Australia, the summit was used to "discuss opportunities" and "evaluate the best ways to maximise them" as well as "building a longer-term strategic vision that will see its stakeholders working together to develop a game that is not just viable but thriving \u2013 ensuring that the major events ahead set rugby up for the future."<\/p>\n

Australia is set to be a focal point for rugby in years to come with the men's Rugby World Cup in 2027, the women's Rugby World Cup in 2029 and Olympic Games in 2032.<\/p>\n

\"Melbourne<\/p>\n

"This runway presents a once-in-a generation opportunity to set the game up for the future, and it is important that as a collective we have a common understanding of where Australian rugby is at \u2013 this summit represents the first step in rebuilding the game together," said CEO Phil Waugh.<\/p>\n

"During the summit, we focused on ensuring we all had a clear and unfiltered understanding of the state of the game, and on framing our common aspirations for the future of rugby in Australia.<\/p>\n

"As we work through this process, it is especially critical that the game seeks input from a wide variety of its stakeholders around the country \u2013 from the community level, through to our Super Rugby clubs, and on to our national team programs, and we had representatives from each of those levels at this summit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"These people own the game, and they should have ownership of the strategy \u2013 it is not up to us to dictate, but to work with everyone to lead and deliver a thriving game for all.<\/p>\n

"We want to accelerate the conversations on how we are tackling the big questions facing the game \u2013 from how the game becomes more connected from the community game to the elite level, to what do our competition, high-performance, pathways and organisational structures need to look like to deliver success on and off the field."<\/p>\n

The summit identified four main pillars for the sport to focus on \u2013 performance, participation, promotion, and resourcing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melbourne Rebels administrators have demanded Rugby Australia meet by 5pm on Wednesday to resolve financial issues and safeguard the embattled team's future. The Super Rugby […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":373236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373234"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=373234"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":373240,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373234\/revisions\/373240"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/373236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=373234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=373234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=373234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}