- RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney was paid £1.1m for the last financial year
- The RFU look set to record losses of almost £40million for 2024
RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney was paid an eye-watering total of £1.1million for the last financial year, despite English rugby’s governing body recording an operating deficit of £37.9m.
The RFU on Monday published its end-of-year accounts, which form part of its annual report. The numbers showed significant yet expected overall losses.
Despite that, the RFU accounts showed Sweeney was paid a basic salary and bonus of £742,000 as well as a payment of £358,000 for a ‘long-term incentive plan.’
Tom Ilube, the RFU chairman, said Sweeney’s long-term incentive plan payment ‘was recommended and approved by the RFU Board in recognition for the need to retain a strong and stable executive team to cover what has been an incredibly challenging period.’
Ilube added that the RFU’s executive took pay cuts during the Covid-19 period and that post-pandemic, a new, additional payment structure based on incentives and hitting targets was agreed. Sweeney, who earlier this year delivered a naming rights deal for Twickenham with Allianz which is worth £100m over the next decade, has ticked the right boxes.
However, at a time when he has also signed off on 40 RFU redundancies, the astonishing sum paid to him for 2024 – which is a record for a chief executive at a British sporting governing body – will undoubtedly see him come under significant fire.
RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney was paid £1.1million for the last financial year
Sweeney is under significant pressure after Steve Borthwick’s side struggled for results
The RFU’s operating loss of £37.9m and underlying loss to reserves of £34.4m are also understood to be record numbers in the British landscape.
The news comes at the end of a year in which head coach Steve Borthwick’s England men’s side has won only five of 12 games.
For the previous financial year of 2023, Sweeney’s total salary amounted to £684,000.
While the RFU’s expected loss for 2024 is undoubtedly a huge number, it can be explained in part due to the figure covering England’s 2023 World Cup campaign and by the fact they did not host any November Tests. According to sources, the RFU still have a strong financial balance sheet, no debt, significant cash reserves and positive ‘profit and loss’ reserves.
The RFU’s revenues for the year were £175.2m. Investment in rugby totalled £96.1m and continued monetary support for the community game was £30.5m.
In their official press release confirming their latest financial figures, the RFU did not provide Sweeney’s response to his salary.
But the CEO said: ‘The RFU has planned well for this year, the fourth year in our business planning cycle, which is always loss making due to increased costs associated with going to the Rugby World Cup and as a result of hosting fewer games at Allianz Stadium.
‘Emerging from post-Covid challenges, which saw significant lost revenues, substantial increases in costs and inflation, and a drop in player participation, we are now entering into a period of significant transformation with a great deal to be positive about.’
