London (AFP)
The higher you climb, the heavier is the fall. The best team in Europe in the last five years, the Saracens could lose everything after being awarded 35 penalty points for violation of the "salary cap". And their competitors intend to sink them.
Three-time European champions over the last four editions, four-time champions of England over the last five seasons, the Saracens have become a reference of the oval. And many of their players (Itoje, the Vunipola brothers, Farrell) were in the World Cup final less than a week ago with the England XV against South Africa (32-12 defeat).
This reference club was sanctioned Tuesday by the English league with the withdrawal of 35 points in the championship standings with a fine of more than 5.3 million pounds (6.2 million euros).
This sanction, unprecedented, punishes the establishment of financial circuits that allowed the club to pay players of the forefront, while skirting the salary cap in effect.
Wednesday, the day after this sanction, the Saracens refused to send representatives to the presentation of the European Cup in Cardiff.
At the same time, the president of Exeter, the main opponent in recent seasons, has estimated that Saracens "should be relegated automatically".
"I'm going to press for change," said Tony Rowe, president of the runner-up in the last two league finals by the Saracens. "There is no place in professional sports for cheaters."
- -26 points on the counter -
The other Premiership clubs have said they are ready to cancel their matches against the champions if the case was brought to court, according to The Daily Telegraph.
A flawed strategy according to former British international Austin Healey, who imagines that "there will be investigations against other clubs" on the salary cap, now that such a decision has been made.
The club has appealed the penalty and keeps its points in the standings pending the final decision.
In anticipation of this final verdict, probably in 2020, supporters have made small calculations. From his current fourth place after three days (9 pts, two wins, one defeat), the club based in North London would finish last with 26 points under the zero (-26). He would then have 30 points to catch on Bath and Leicester, current 11th and 12th of the English championship (4 pts), to hope not to finish last and relegated.
The sanction came after the mission of three independent controllers, including a former judge, who estimated that the club "has exceeded the maximum payment limit of major players in the last three seasons" and has not disclosed the amount salaries of his players "during these seasons.
- Itoje, the Vunipola and Farrell at the heart of the system -
As part of the salary cap, the Saracens, club run by millionaire Nigel Wray since 1995, are accused of having implemented schemes.
The club had notably created joint ventures with its best players with evocative names "VunProp Ltd" (for the Vunipola brothers), Faz Investments Ltd. (Owen Farrell) and MN Property Solutions Ltd. (Maro Itoje) to get around the "salary cap", introduced in 1999 and set at 7 million pounds (€ 8.14 million) per season.
In comparison, this mechanism is set at 11.3 million euros in the French Top 14, where it has been since 2010.
In case of sanction confirmed, and even if the club manages to save itself in the Premiership, the future of the Saracens could be written without several of its stars. If Itoje and Farrell have a long-term contract, rear-end Liam Williams, for example, will come to the end of the season and Welsh may leave north-west London.
As some sources close to the club indicate to the Times, it is the club itself that could be in danger, if Nigel Wray decides to sell it in case of rejected appeal.
© 2019 AFP