Leicester Tigers have once again found themselves embroiled in a recent controversy, this time for violating salary cap regulations during the 2019-20 season. Premiership Rugby has imposed a substantial fine of nearly £50,000 on the club for its failure to comply with the established rules. This incident marks the second time in slightly over two years that the team has been penalized for breaching salary cap regulations, with Chief Executive Andrea Pinchen attributing the recurrent issue to the previous management.
The latest breach came to light during the Covid-interrupted 2019-20 season, when it was discovered that additional payments amounting to £47,136.91 were not included in Leicester’s salary cap certification for that year. As a result, Premiership Rugby levied the fine in accordance with the regulations.
In March 2022, the club was fined a substantial amount of £309,000 but managed to avoid a points deduction despite being found in violation of salary cap regulations for five consecutive seasons. This penalty was only surpassed by Saracens, who were slapped with a fine exceeding £5 million in 2020.
An investigation by PRL at the time uncovered that Leicester had engaged in an arrangement with a third party, which subsequently made payments to the image rights companies of Leicester players. These payments, spanning the seasons from 2016-17 to 2019-20, should have been disclosed within the salary cap but were omitted.
In response to the fine, Pinchen remarked, “While disappointed to again have historic salary cap spending relating to the 2019-20 season result in this overrun tax, as was the case in March 2022, we accept the findings of Premiership Rugby. This, however, does not pertain to any of the most recent four seasons, and we are grateful to Premiership Rugby for the cooperative approach in bringing this matter to a close. We have accepted and paid the overrun tax and, as stated in March 2022, the current club management – who inherited this issue – have great respect for the Salary Cap regulations and remain committed to ensuring Leicester Tigers are compliant every season.”
It appears that Leicester Tigers are now taking a more proactive approach to ensuring compliance with salary cap regulations in order to avoid further penalties in the future. It remains to be seen whether the club will be able to refocus on their on-field performance without the looming spectre of salary cap breaches.