How many clubs will remain at the end of the season in the Premiership, the English first division championship?
The question deserves to be asked after the announcement by the Wasps, this Wednesday, of his withdrawal for the championship match on Saturday against Exeter and his probable placement “in receivership in the days to come”.
Despite ongoing negotiations to find a buyer, "it is now clear that we will not have enough time to find a viable solution and it is therefore likely that we will be placed in administration in the coming days", writes the club based in Coventry in a press release on its website.
"In view of the current situation, we have taken the decision to forfeit the match of the men's team scheduled for this Saturday against Exeter Chiefs", adds the club, which nevertheless says it is still "confident that new owners will be found to allow teams and companies to continue their activity”.
The same fate as Worcester with a white season and relegation?
In the event of receivership, the Wasps could suffer the same fate as the Worcester Warriors suspended for the rest of the season on October 6, after the liquidation of the holding company which controlled the club.
The Midlands club, from which the tax authorities notably claimed nearly 7 million euros, will be relegated to the Championship (2nd division of English rugby), where it can start the 2023-2024 season.
According to the English press, the Wasps club had defaulted on the repayment of a loan of 40 million euros scheduled for last May.
A suspension and relegation of this formerly London-based club would be a resounding shock for English rugby as it is an institution with four English league titles between 2002 and 2008 and two European league titles in 2004 and 2007. In the European Challenge, the Wasps are supposed to face Bayonne this season.
More generally, these two cases illustrate the deep crisis of English rugby clubs which, according to a survey published in early September by the Daily Mail, had a cumulative debt of more than 500 million pounds.
Worrying times when there is this much debt in rugby.
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—Robert Rees (@Rreesrugby) September 4, 2022