Beaumont defends RFU’s Sweeney and takes aim at ‘personal attack’ on CEO

Beaumont defends RFU’s Sweeney and takes aim at ‘personal attack’ on CEO
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Beaumont defends RFU’s Sweeney and takes aim at ‘personal attack’ on CEO
Author: Gerard Meagher
Published: Jan, 29 2025 20:00

The Rugby Football Union’s interim chairman Bill Beaumont has come out fighting on behalf of the embattled chief executive, Bill Sweeney, writing a letter to urge the ­governing body’s members to vote against a ­resolution to remove Sweeney and taking aim at the “personal attack on one individual”.

Beaumont, who was appointed on a temporary basis following the resignation of Tom Ilube, has warned – in a letter on behalf of the RFU’s board and seen by the Guardian – of the risk of “sending the union into paralysis and creating a leadership vacuum”.

Sweeney will face a vote of no confidence on 27 March after more than 150 members – led by the Rugby Football Referees Union and the Championship clubs – triggered a special ­general meeting, calling for the removal of the chief exe­cutive. Sweeney insisted last week that it was his intention to stay in the role until at least 2027 and he refused to apologise for accepting the £358,000 bonus that has sparked the grassroots revolution.

Beaumont and Sweeney are taking part in a “roadshow” before the SGM, visiting clubs across the country in an effort to unify the game which has been so obviously fractured in recent months. The rebellion was sparked after it emerged in November that Sweeney was paid £1.1m, ­including a £358,000 long-term incentive plan bonus, while five other executive directors shared close to £1m amid 42 redundancies and the RFU’s record loss to reserves of £42m.

When calling for the SGM, the rebels cited a number of reasons including the “negative reaction across stakeholders throughout the game” to the pay scandal, “significant concerns around good governance and effective checks and balances, the attempts of the RFU president Rob Udwin to brush off negative coverage as “media spinning” and “clickbait” and losses of around £130m over the past two World Cup cycles.

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