By Matt Hardy
The Rugby Football Union have withdrawn Wasps‘ licence to play in the Championship next season in a major blow to the former Premiership club.
A statement read: “The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has withdrawn the licence for Wasps to continue to play in the league structure.
“This means that Wasps will not be able to play in the Championship next season.
“In order to be sure that Wasps were in a position to play in the Championship, the RFU set a deadline for the club to meet the commitments it had made when the licence was first approved and recommit to participating in the Championship in 2023/24.
“These included evidencing payment to Rugby Creditors and putting in place suitable governance structures including a majority independent Board and a process for managing risk. The RFU was also concerned about the lack of progress engaging coaching staff and players.
“The club stated that it could not meet these commitments, recommit to participating in the Championship in 2023/24 or engage staff of players until further finance was secured.
The RFU had worked with the club’s new owners to give the club the best chance of continuing in the league structure and recognises the effort the new owners have put in to try to make this happen.
“However, the RFU Board decided that in order to give certainty to other clubs, the licence to continue to play is withdrawn.”
As a result of the RFU move, Wasps will now fall to the bottom of the rugby pyramid.
This raises huge questions to fellow former Premiership club Worcester Warriors, who were hoping the use of Wasps as tenants at Sixways Stadium could help increase revenue going forward.
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