Who's been breaching the salary cap then?

[Tattooed Freak]

Super League clubs Bradford and Wigan will be investigated by the RFL's independent judiciary panel for alleged breaches of the salary cap in 2005.
Clubs are permitted to spend no more than 50% of their income on players' wages, up to a maximum of £1.8m a year.

Meanwhile, Castleford, Hull, St Helens and Wakefield have been found guilty of minor breaches of the code.

Castleford and Wakefield were cautioned while Hull and St Helens were fined £5,000, some which has been suspended.

The judiciary panel will hear Wigan's case on Monday 7 August, while Bradford's will be stage at a later date.

In addition to the £1.8m maximum player wage cap, clubs are also bound by the "20/20 rule" whereby they can only have a maximum of 20 players earning in excess of £20,000 a year.

Punishments can range from a fine to a deduction of six points depending on the size of the breach.

[ant26]

LOL. We shall have to see then!

[Tattooed Freak]

Originally saw this in League Express and then it appeared on the BBC Website and Sky Sports News. I reckon the other team is Warrington, unless Andrew Johns was paid in brown paper bags in service stations.

Bradford should be stripped of the title they won last year.

[ant26]

Found this on rlfans forum:-


NEWS RELEASE



For immediate release 7th August 2006



RFL statement relating to the 2005 Salary Cap



The independent audit of the 2005 Salary Cap returns for both the engage Super League and the LHF National League One has been completed.



Following this it has been found that Wigan Warriors and Bradford Bulls have cases to answer relating to alleged breaches.



These will be heard by the RFL’s independent Judiciary Panel.



The Wigan Warriors case will be heard later today (Monday 7th August) with the Bradford club’s hearing being staged at a later date.



The outcome of today’s hearing will be made known as soon as possible.



Meanwhile, following the audit of the 2005 Salary Caps, papers relating to Castleford Tigers, Hull FC, St Helens and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats have been passed the RFL Compliance Commissioner who has found that all four clubs have made minor breaches.



Castleford Tigers and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats have been found guilty of a breach of Salary Cap regulations, have been cautioned by formal written warning and have been ordered to pay the costs of the investigation.



Hull FC and St Helens have been found guilty of a breach of Salary Cap regulations, fined £5,000 (a proportion of which has been suspended) and ordered to pay the costs of the investigation



All four clubs have a right to appeal the Compliance Commissioner’s decision.


##Now to find out the punishments. More than 2 points & we are down##

[ant26]

Wigan £80,000 over limit. Two points deducted & £50,000 fine!

[urbsy]

Buhaaaaaaaaaa, that might wipe the smile off people that deny they cheat.

urbsy

[ant26]

Buhaaaaaaaaaa, that might wipe the smile off people that deny they cheat.

urbsy

Yea & were not alone!!

£8k less and we would have only got a fine------>


According to RL Express heres how it works:-

Up to 52% breach of £3.6 million a fine. (up to £1.872 million)

52% - 55% breach of £3.6 million a two points deduction. (up to £1.98 million)

55% - 60% breach of £3.6 million a four points deduction. (up to £2.16million

Above 60% breach of £3.6 million a fine a six point deduction. (above £2.16 million)

as much as I hate to admit it, 2 points is the right punishment.

[bbshark]

http://www.sportinglife.com/story_ge...ries_Lead.html

"The panel found that the Wigan club had a salary cap of between 52 and 55% at the end of 2005 and therefore, in accordance with the RFL's Operational Rules, has suffered a penalty of the deduction of two competition points.

"The panel also found that in the course of the breach, the Wigan club was guilty of conduct prejudicial to the interests of the game. They have been fined £50,000 plus costs in respect of this.

"The Wigan club pleaded guilty to both charges in the course of the hearing.

[ant26]

Mo should hang for this the nob! Ah well, what a fight we have to stay up now ffs!!

[bbshark]

its going to be close thats for sure.
i can see now that we will lose to wakey because its right after the final and we always seem to play bad that week. its also the week before leeds so we will probley be resting players that need it for that game.
to be honest i think that we should be targeting cas leeds and wire with the dragons and wakey has resting games because of the final.
that could give wigan a problem for the point of view of wakey. also they seem to have a bit of "fighting spirit" ( pun intended ) and could avoid the drop if wigan dont put this behind them.

[Yorkshire Bantam]

Bradford should be stripped of the title they won last year.

what and give the title to you?

Its only way your going to get silverwear and not choke like usual!!

[Tattooed Freak]

One word -> cheat. Having to cheat the salary cap to win, I am so envious.

[bbshark]

with them having a later date bradford being stripped of the title could be a possiblility.
cant see it happening because saints did it in 2002 and didnt get it stripped.
mind you that was on a technicality. depending on by how much it could happen so it stops teams "buying" the championship.

[Tattooed Freak]

If the RFL look through the accounts I am sure they will see that bringing in a certain GB prop for the play off's tipped them over the scale. Why should teams suffer when others break the rules?

They can send the 2005 GF trophy to Headingley anytime they want.

[bbshark]

if they strip it they should give it to the side that fininshed top of the league

[Tattooed Freak]

You can keep the plastic hub cap, just remember who walked into your place and then straight into the Grand Final. Haha, I have never heard Eddie Hemmings sounding so disappointed as when we pulled that off.

[ant26]

Official Club Statement:

Wigan Warriors have confirmed that they are guilty of breaching the Salary Cap in 2005 for which they have been deducted two points in relation to the current season and fined £50,000.

The club had actually overspent by £80,000, which represented 52.3% as opposed to an allowable 50%. As any breach between 52% and 55% triggers a two-point deduction the Wigan club acknowledge the breach and accepted the panel's verdict.

The Wigan club had explained to the RFL panel that the 2005 season had seen the club suffer it’s most serious ever injury crisis which had seen the loss of Sean O’Loughlin, Gareth Hock, Brian Carney, Luke Davico and others. Nearly all of these players had their seasons wiped out, but it is a requirement that their full season's payments are entered into the salary cap return, which they were. The Wigan club recruited additional players including Wayne McDonald, Jerome Guisset and Liam Botham. Although these facts were offered in mitigation the Wigan club had to accept that it had been in breach of the salary cap and offered both a guilty plea and an apology to the RFL panel. The Wigan club also accepted the finding of a £50,000 fine.

Wigan Chairman Maurice Lindsay said,

“We have accepted the findings of the RFL independent panel to which we pleaded guilty. It was a difficult season savaged by injury but in accepting the findings of the panel we must now re- double our efforts and put everything we have got into the remaining five games of the season.”

The club will be making no further comment on this issue.

[Yorkshire Bantam]

If the RFL look through the accounts I am sure they will see that bringing in a certain GB prop for the play off's tipped them over the scale. Why should teams suffer when others break the rules?

They can send the 2005 GF trophy to Headingley anytime they want.

Well giving you the title is the only way you will ever see it again!

The current champs will take the point deduction on the chin but the title stays where it belongs!!!

[Tattooed Freak]

You only won cos you cheated, won cos you cheated!!!!!!!!

[Yorkshire Bantam]

Bradford Bulls have been deducted two points for breaching the Super League salary cap in 2005.
In addition, an independent Rugby Football League panel found that the club was guilty of conduct prejudicial to the interests of the game.

Bulls pleaded guilty on both counts and were fined £25,000 plus costs, £15,000 of which was suspended for two years.

They remain fourth in the table despite the deduction, but their gap to fifth placed Salford is cut to four points.

Bradford have 14 days to appeal against the punishment and chairman Peter Hood said: "We are going away to consider our position.

"There is always a possibility of an appeal but I am making no comment on that."

Super League rivals Wigan lost points last week after being found guilty of overspending on players' wages last year.

And Wakefield, Castleford, Hull and St Helens were also found guilty of minor infringements.

Clubs are not allowed to spend more than 50% of their income on salaries.

But the RFL panel found that Bradford had a salary cap of 52-55% at the end of 2005.

Punishments can range from a fine to a deduction of six points depending on the size of the breach.