The French Rugby Federation is using the lull in the talks over the future of the Heineken Cup to try to persuade its clubs that they have made significant gains and should abandon plans to set up the rival Rugby Champions Cup with Premiership Rugby.
The behind-the-scenes activity and shuttle diplomacy to reach a new accord over Europe has slowed this month as administrators focus on the autumn internationals. A meeting of the Six Nations planned at Heathrow earlier this month was called off because the French said they could not attend because it was a public holiday there.
The English and French clubs served notice last year that they would leave European Rugby Cup, the body that organises the Heineken and Amlin Challenge cups, at the end of the season. The FFR said it would be following its clubs out, but it has taken a harder line against them in recent weeks.
The decision of the four RaboDirect Pro 12 unions last month to accept two of the demands of the English and French clubs – a meritocratic qualification process for the top European club tournament and equal division of the proceeds among the three leagues involved – left the biggest question unresolved: that of governance.
The clubs were adamant they would have nothing more to do with ERC and that their Rugby Champions Cup would be run by clubs. The unions would having nothing to do with television and commercial deals and not sit on the board, although it was accepted that one board member would have to come from the Irish, Scottish and Italian governing bodies as they directly controlled their professional sides.
The idea of clubs running a cross-border tournament spooked the chairman of the International Rugby Board, Bernard Lapasset, a close friend of Pierre Camou, who succeeded him as FFR president in 2008.
“The clubs have gone too far,” he said at the launch of the 2014 Women’s Rugby World Cup. “Neither league has the right to lay down the law in rugby which must be governed fairly and with respect for others. There have been some hasty decisions taken by the British from the start and they need to work on the plans, which is why I am giving them the time to come up with something more constructive.”
He was referring to the television deal with BT Sport that Premiership Rugby negotiated last year. It includes all the matches the English clubs play in Europe and they are adamant that the company will be the sole broadcaster of a new tournament, something Sky, who signed a new contract with ERC last year, dispute.
The unions have yet to seriously discuss the issues of governance and all that flows from it, such as the television contract. Their attempt last year to break the solidarity of the English and French clubs failed but Camou is trying to persuade the Top 14 sides that they should remain in ERC because their objectives have been achieved.
The English and French clubs were due to announce comprehensive details of the Rugby Champions Cup later this month, but it is understood that no date has been put on an announcement as Camou looks to divide and conquer.
The Rugby Football Union has maintained a neutral position, supporting its clubs in their desire for an equal share of the money and a qualification process based on league positions, but it has not committed itself on governance.
The FFR, though, is using French law to rein in its clubs. It stipulates that sporting teams may only play in tournaments endorsed by their governing body and Camou maintains that it demands the FFR would have to be represented on the board of an organisation running a cross-border competition.
If he succeeds in destroying the Rugby Champions Cup, the French clubs would then have to decide whether to sign a new agreement to remain in ERC or just play rugby, while Premiership Rugby would find itself isolated. The postponed meeting of the unions has yet to be rescheduled, partly because of the autumn internationals but mainly because the Rabo unions are waiting to see whether Camou succeeds.
If he does, one of the concessions made by the unions last month would fall. They agreed to an equal split of the proceeds between the three leagues only if it meant they did not receive a drop in income and without the BT deal they would almost certainly be worse off.
Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/24865350
French clubs urged to abandon Rugby Champions Cup plans
No comments:
Post a Comment