- The RFU caused outrage by paying huge bonuses despite making a record loss
- Sir Clive Woodward was shocked at the enhanced pay given the on-field turmoil
- But president Udwin cries witch hunt and claims that finances are healthy
Rob Udwin, the president of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) has reportedly told council members and former presidents that the outrage caused by the organisation’s bonus payouts is just ‘media spinning’.
While the RFU incurred an operating loss of nearly £40million, chief executive Bill Sweeney was rewarded with a ‘long-term incentive plan’ bonus of £358,000, to take his overall earnings for the year to a staggering £1.1m.
Mail Sport columnist Sir Clive Woodward has been a leading voice in the criticism, expressing his shock at the enhanced pay received by Sweeney and Co. following a period of turmoil in the sport in this country – and at a time when the men’s national team have lost seven of 12 Tests in the calendar year.
But rather than show any contrition, The Telegraph are reporting that RFU President Udwin emailed council members on Saturday to claim the governing body’s finances are healthy and to hit back at the media coverage.
‘Media attacks based on spinning information in a manner that sells newspapers or attracts online click-throughs can be very painful at times and impacts us all,” wrote Udwin.
‘The media output was as expected, and we can expect more commentary over the coming days. Headlines always tend to be quite punchy,” he added.
Chief executive Sweeney was rewarded with a ‘long-term incentive plan’ bonus of £358,000
The storm comes at a time when England men have lost seven of 12 Tests in the calendar year
Mail Sport Sir Clive Woodward has been a leading voice in the criticism of the governing body
‘The fact is that the RFU is in good shape, and we have finished the year ahead of our budgeted projections. We have no current debt, over £50 million in the bank and £80 million in reserves and are on track to be in balance over the coming four-year cycle.
Udwin then went on the justify, the raft of hefty bonuses on the RFU’s balance sheet. As well as Sweeney’s bumper salary, five other executives at Twickenham were awarded a combined bonus sum of close to £1m, soon after 42 union staff were made redundant.
‘On executive remuneration, the headlines were inevitably tough,’ he added.
‘The long-term incentive plan (LTIP) was recommended in 2021 by the RFU Board (which included council-elected directors, the then president and chair) and the Remuneration Committee in recognition of the need to keep a strong and stable executive team in place to move forward from what had been an incredibly challenging three-year period post-Covid.
‘During a time of significant instability which saw record revenue reductions during the longest period when international and other rugby games were played without crowds, and when the community game had been halted, there was a recognition of the toughness of the challenge needed to reset rugby in England.
‘Additionally, during the pandemic, the executive team took deeper and longer salary cuts than the rest of the organisation along with a reduced bonus. The LTIP recognised the material and voluntary reduction in remuneration, despite an exceptional increase in workload; while also incentivising the executive team to remain in post for at least three years to qualify, to deliver against challenging multi-year targets, and to ensure stability in the organisation at a time of significant uncertainty.
‘My personal perspective is that we are all – council, board and executive – here to do a job; and that is to transform the RFU into the best possible state for the long-term future of the game.’
