Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney will face calls for his sacking after a community revolt demanded a special general meeting on a night of disagreements between the warring parties.
A total of 141 signatories were included in the letter sent to the RFU on Thursday, easily exceeding the 100 member clubs required to launch an SGM under the governing body’s rules.
A statement released by the Rugby Football Referees Union (RFRU), which is leading the on-field rebellion, revealed that the initial resolution being discussed at the SGM would include calling on the board to terminate Sweeney’s employment “as soon as possible”.
RFU chairman Tom Ilube was the main target of the rebellion, but he resigned from his post last month in response to the outcry over the executive pay and bonus scandal that engulfed Twickenham.
However, on receipt of the letter the RFU claimed that it contained “a number of inaccuracies” and that it “does not comply with the relevant requirements and is therefore invalid as a request for SGM”.
It also said the nine professional referees it employs had distanced themselves from the RFRU, with officials saying “we have not endorsed any statements or meetings they have proposed”.
A spokesman for the 141 clubs seeking a vote of no confidence in Sweeney hit back by insisting the RFU was using technicalities to avoid being called to account.
“The RFU can play as long as they like, but this is a mass movement of a stronger, united team,” the spokesman said.
“Putting hairs over the rules about what is or isn’t a valid complaint form is just delaying the inevitable.”
RFU reports published in November revealed that Sweeney received a salary of £1.1m for the 2023-24 financial year, made up of a £742,000 pay rise and a £358,000 bonus.
Bonuses totaling almost £1m were paid out to a further five executives, although the RFU reported an operating loss of £37.9m for 2023-24, the biggest loss it has ever recorded.
In addition, 42 staff were made redundant in September, England’s men’s national team won just five of their 12 games in 2024 and attendances on the pitch are in decline.
Other areas of contention mentioned in the letter to the RFU are its excessive bureaucracy and mismanagement, the sacking of development officers, the “debacle” over the introduction of a new catching height in the community game and the cost of sacking former England head coach Eddie Jones.
“What you are seeing is the result of years of frustration affecting all levels of our game,” Chichester RFC chairman Paddy McAlpine said.
“Now it has erupted as a result of the anger felt by clubs when directors were paid bonuses. Every club I know wants to see change at the top.”
At an emergency RFU council meeting last month, it was announced that the organization had suffered “reputational damage” from the pay scandal.
Ilube oversaw his remuneration committee, which was responsible for introducing a long-term incentive plan (LTIP) bonus scheme designed to retain executives during the pandemic-induced storm.
The law firm is conducting an independent review of the LTIP scheme.
