Melbourne Rebels owners to sue Australian Rugby Union
The Australian: 10:56PM May 8, 2017
Wayne Smith
The Melbourne Rebels are set to launch a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the Australian Rugby Union as the national body
tries to forestall the Rebels’ owners by trying to buy back the Super Rugby licence from them.
It is understood that the Rebels board met today to consider the dramatic developments.
SANZAAR’s plan to reduce Australia’s Super Rugby presence from five teams to four suddenly got very real — or unreal — as Andrew Cox and the Imperium Group, which owns the Rebels, prepared to launch a legal raid to recoup the damages caused by the ARU’s bid to axe them from the competition.
The ARU, at the only press conference it has given on the Super Rugby battle a month ago, absolved the Canberra-based Brumbies from the list of clubs being considered for culling but specifically named the Force and the Rebels.
Both clubs have threatened legal action. The Force have taken out an injunction. Both believe they have an airtight case for remaining in the competition.
Complicating matters is the involvement of the two state governments. The West Australian government, which has already negotiated to stage a 2019 Bledisloe Cup match at its new stadium in Perth, has indicated to the ARU that if the Victorian government retaliated against any move to cull the Rebels by withdrawing the $5 million it had offered to stage an Australia-New Zealand Test, it would be prepared to host an additional Bledisloe Test in Perth plus a Test against the British and Irish Lions.
But it is now understood that the Victorian government, while it has pledged $14m to rugby projects, has entered the fray by assuring the ARU that if the WA government reacts harshly to any culling of the Force, it
would consider compensating the ARU for any losses.
“The Victorian government doesn’t want us to go anywhere,” a Rebels source told The Australian. “We understand they are prepared to provide the same level of support as the WA government is supplying the Force. If we were to get that support, then it would be happy days.”
The Force have been the ARU’s prime candidate for the axe since this whole venture first moved into a war footing with the ARU’s board meeting in February, at which its directors mapped out the ARU strategy. Until last week the Perth club remained the only target but such a vigorous defence have they mounted of their Super Rugby team that the Rebels, by comparison, looked to be an easier mark.
That’s all a bit confusing given that the Rebels never genuinely felt that they were threatened and so felt no need to stage any public demonstrations in support of their team. But there is no question that the uncertainty has more severely affected the Rebels’ performances on the field.
While the Force have actually lifted their displays and beaten the Queensland Reds and the Southern Kings, the Rebels have won only the one match, against the Brumbies and drew with the Sharks.
Cox refused to comment on his impending lawsuit but it is understood the Rebels intend to sue the ARU for double-digit millions. Their brand has suffered through all the uncertainty and their crowd attendance for the Lions match last weekend was their lowest in their history, under 6000.
The ARU does not have the capacity to wage a lawsuit of such magnitude and appears to be
following the only course open to it, trying to persuade Cox to sell back his Super Rugby licence.
Cox has indicated previously that he was not prepared to sell the Rebels to the ARU if the intention was to close the franchise but this has become a game of high stakes poker in which the rules changes constantly.
The Victorian government gives no direct aid to the Rebels and it may well be that its willingness or otherwise to assist the Rebels could force Cox’s hand.
The ARU tonight was unable to provide a comment.
Chief executive
Bill Pulver has left for the World Cup draw in Kyoto tomorrow, followed by the SANZAAR meeting in Tokyo on Friday.
At that meeting, Australia will be expected to give details of how it is progressing in shedding one team, especially since the South Africans are expected to follow suit in culling two teams to reduce the competition from 18 teams to 15 next season.
Until the possibility of the Rebels being for sale became even a remote option, the ARU would have had nothing useful to report to SANZAAR.
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