Coppe europee: i club inglesi non si spostano dalle loro posizioni

ph. Sebastiano Pesina

Si va verso un anno di coppe europee senza squadre inglesi. I presidenti delle società di Premiership si sono incontrati oggi a Londra e al termine del meeting hanno diffuso un comunicato nel quale ribadiscono le proprie posizioni, che non cambiano a fronte della decisione francese di concedersi un’altra stagione sotto il cappello dell’ERC.
Le società inglesi non prenderanno parte ad alcuna competizione governata dall’ERC per la stagione 2014/2015. Il futuro? The English clubs are now pursuing other options, così recita il comunicato che vi proponiamo integralmente:

The Chairmen and Shareholders of Premiership Rugby met today to consider amongst other matters the situation and options related to European club rugby issues.

The English Clubs have unanimously re-confirmed their position. Having served notice in June 2012, they will not participate in any competitions run by ERC from 2014-15 season.

ERC does not structurally recognise the role of the leagues and clubs in driving the success of club competitions, under the overall governance of Unions. The ERC voting structure is controlled by Unions even though the majority of commercial value is created by the independent clubs which represent 75 per cent of the participants.

Proposals put forward to address a new structure within a Rugby Champions Cup were agreed by a majority of the Unions in October, alongside meritocratic competition formats and equitable financial distributions. However, these have not been accepted by all.

The English Clubs have worked exhaustively over the last 18 months to propose solutions to the issues with the current European competitions and to provide a sustainable platform to grow the game in the various countries.

The English clubs are now pursuing other options.