TROUBLED club Wasps have been thrust into more turmoil after they were demoted to the bottom tier of the English rugby pyramid by the Rugby Football Union (RFU).
The two-time European champions saw the offer of a place in the Championship withdrawn after they missed a deadline to confirm commitments made to the RFU back in December.
Should the club return, they will likely be placed in the Counties 4 Midlands West (North) or Counties 4 Midlands West (South) divisions – the 10th tier of English rugby.
Wasps were placed in administration back in October as 167 players and staff were made redundant with the club suspended and then automatically relegated from the Gallagher Premiership.
The club received a lifeline when the RFU confirmed Wasps would be allowed to play in next season’s Championship upon certain conditions being met.
However, the RFU have now withdrawn Wasps’ licence to play in the league after the club was unable to meet commitments that were previously agreed to without securing additional funding.
An RFU statement read: “The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has withdrawn the licence for Wasps to continue to play in the league structure.
“This means that Wasps will not be able to play in the Championship next season.
“In order to be sure that Wasps were in a position to play in the Championship, the RFU set a deadline for the club to meet the commitments it had made when the licence was first approved and recommit to participating in the Championship in 2023/24.
“These included evidencing payment to Rugby Creditors and putting in place suitable governance structures including a majority independent Board and a process for managing risk.
“The RFU was also concerned about the lack of progress engaging coaching staff and players.
“The club stated that it could not meet these commitments, recommit to participating in the Championship in 2023/24 or engage staff of players until further finance was secured.
“The RFU had worked with the club’s new owners to give the club the best chance of continuing in the league structure and recognises the effort the new owners have put in to try to make this happen.
“However, the RFU Board decided that in order to give certainty to other clubs, the licence to continue to play is withdrawn.”
Bill Sweeney, RFU CEO, added: “This is not the outcome anyone in rugby wanted and all those involved with the club will be deeply disappointed.
“We have worked with the new owners for the past six months to try to ensure that a robust plan could be put in place for the club to continue to play in the Championship while players and staff could receive monies owed to them.
“The RFU is working closely in partnership with Premiership Rugby and the Rugby Players Association to ensure players are supported.
“We are also working together at pace to ensure the game emerges from this challenging time on a strong and sound financial footing.”
