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#Post#: 131000--------------------------------------------------
RFU calls emergency meeting to head off revolt against senior
leadership
DIR By: deadlyfrom5yardsout
Date: December 4, 2024, 3:09 am
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More than 20 council members lead attempt to topple chair Tom
Ilube and put pressure on CEO Bill Sweeney
Gavin Mairs
Chief Rugby Union Correspondent
03 December 2024 10:16pm GMT
Gavin Mairs
The president of the Rugby Football Union has called an
emergency meeting to pre-empt a revolt by the governing body’s
council over the pay and bonuses scandal.
Telegraph Sport revealed that more than 20 council members had
pledged their support to call for an emergency council meeting
that would allow for a vote of no confidence in RFU chair Tom
Ilube and put pressure on the board to sack chief executive Bill
Sweeney.
Sources claimed those seeking to challenge the leadership had
exceeded the threshold of 20 that is necessary to trigger an
emergency meeting but had yet to serve it, while they debated
the wording of the motion. The RFU’s constitution states that
Sweeney must call a meeting within 28 days of receiving notice
by a letter from the council members.
However, RFU president Rob Udwin sent an email to council
members on Tuesday evening in a bid to defuse mounting tensions
by calling an emergency meeting for Dec 18 to enable members to
discuss the situation “as openly as possible” and have “calm,
considered” talks. The meeting will not be minuted, nor will it
be a platform for a vote of no confidence. Neither Ilube nor
Sweeney will be in attendance.
The revolt has been sparked by the furious reaction across the
game to revelations that Sweeney was paid £1.1 million,
including an extra bonus of £358,000 while five other executive
directors shared a bonus of close to £1million against a
backdrop of 42 redundancies and the RFU’s record loss of £37.9
million.
The board also held a day-long strategic meeting on Tuesday that
was planned, but the crisis was discussed.
Ilube’s company in administration
The RFU’s constitution states that Sweeney must call a meeting
within 28 days of receiving notice by a letter from the council
members.
It is also understood that clubs across the country are
mobilising support to call for a special general meeting to have
a vote on the leadership at Twickenham. Rules require that the
chief executive must call an SGM if at least 100 members give
written notice.
“More and more clubs are getting in contact and it is likely
they will have more than 100 members fairly soon,” said one
source. RFU rules state that the chief executive must send out a
letter within 14 days and an SGM must be held within 45 days
after that.
Ilube’s leadership is coming under increasing scrutiny after
revelations that a company of which he was a founder and chief
executive has gone into administration.
Crossword Cybersecurity plc went into administration on November
18 after it revealed it had failed to prepare its half-year
accounts because of a shortage of finance staff.
The most recently published accounts in May this year stated
that, under Ilube’s leadership as chief executive, losses of
£3.9 million had been recorded against £4.2 million revenues.
Cumulative losses were shown to total £19 million, with Ilube
pocketing a £135,000 annual salary as of December 2023. He is
since described as “non-executive chairman” on the company’s
website.
RFU asks clubs to explain their votes
The company had announced on Sept 27 that “there have recently
been changes in senior personnel within the finance function as
well as a substantial cost-reduction programme involving a
number of redundancies, including within the finance function
“The combined effect of the change in personnel along with the
focus on bedding in cost reductions within the group has meant
that without investing in significant additional short-term
resource, which the company was unable to do within the required
timeframe, it was not possible to prepare the accounts by Sept
30 2024.”
The RFU has also come under criticism for asking constituent
bodies (CBs), which represent clubs in geographical areas across
England, why members chose not to vote for Ilube at the annual
general meeting in June, when he was re-elected as chairman for
a second three-year term.
It is understood that at least 20 per cent of those that voted
did not support Ilube’s re-election and that Udwin, who recently
blamed the furore over the governing body’s salary and bonus
payments on “media spinning” and clickbait, wrote to two CBs to
ask why and named the clubs and the individual who cast the
vote.
In one correspondence, seen by Telegraph Sport, Udwin, who names
18 clubs, states: “We noticed that several clubs from [the CB]
registered a vote or proxy vote against the resolution, as did
the county union and your chair.
“We didn’t hear any concerns from the clubs about Tom [Ilube]
prior to the AGM, so it was quite striking and surprising that
so many clubs registered a negative proxy vote at the AGM
itself.
“I wonder if you and I could have a conversation about this in
the next few days to help me to understand what the issues might
be. After we have spoken, if necessary, I can engage with those
clubs to understand why they voted, or instructed [a council
member] to use their proxy vote in the way that they did, and
what reassurances we can give to those clubs that Tom is the
right person to lead the organisation for these three years.”
‘It was clear our clubs lacked confidence in the leadership’
One senior source said: “Clubs were really upset that they were
being asked to explain their vote. One CB just told them where
to go and told them that we lived in a democracy and did not
need to explain how they voted.”
Another CB replied that their clubs met regularly throughout the
season and “it was clear that our clubs lacked confidence in the
current leadership”.
“In particular the RFU forecast a loss of £50 million in 2023-24
and substantial further large losses over the next four-year
Rugby World Cup cycle,” wrote the CB chair. “The [RFU] board do
not appear to be holding the executive to account and our clubs
felt that a change was necessary to recover this situation.
“Tom Ilube as chair of the board has been virtually invisible to
the community game. He has made no apparent effort to engage
with clubs or CBs, he definitely hasn’t reached out to [the CB]
during his previous term and he has absolutely no public
profile. I personally wouldn’t know him if he stood next to me.
As a result, the executive do not appear to have the necessary
checks and balances and are not held to account.
“The [CB’s] clubs and board believed that a new chair with rugby
knowledge and greater willingness to speak publicly was required
to hold the executive – and particularly the CEO – to account.
Nothing has changed since the AGM and we still have the same
concerns. We understand that over 20 per cent of members who
attended the AGM voted against Tom Ilube and we would like to
know what his plans are to regain the confidence of clubs and
county unions.”
In response the RFU said that Udwin had written to two CBs “to
see if we could engage with them to understand if there were any
specific concerns that needed to be addressed”.
#Post#: 131002--------------------------------------------------
Re: RFU calls emergency meeting to head off revolt against
senior leadership
DIR By: Bod
Date: December 4, 2024, 3:25 am
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I've already contacted the appropriate executives at my Rugby
club and the County Board advising them to vote "No Confidence"
#Post#: 131043--------------------------------------------------
Re: RFU calls emergency meeting to head off revolt against
senior leadership
DIR By: northstand
Date: December 4, 2024, 11:07 am
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We can only hope that those 2 **** get ousted.
Question is though is it better the devil you do know, as who
will they have next in line?
#Post#: 131044--------------------------------------------------
Re: RFU calls emergency meeting to head off revolt against
senior leadership
DIR By: Banstead Quin
Date: December 4, 2024, 11:20 am
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I've heard that Paula Vennells & Liz Truss might be available
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