Rugby Football Union bosses Bill Sweeney and Tom Ilube could face a shock vote of no confidence early next year with a motion calling for their sacking, rallying support among civic clubs.
If the application reaches the threshold of 100 signatories from clubs across England, a special general meeting must be held within 45 days – a deadline that will decide the future of Sweeney and Ilube by the end of February.
A two-thirds majority would be required to remove Ilube and put pressure on RFU directors to remove Sweeney from his position following protests over his compensation package.
Sweeney received a basic salary of £742,000 in the year to June 2024, up from the £430,000 he received when he took up the post in 2019.
However, his remuneration was also supplemented with a bonus of £358,000 under a program signed by Ilube and aimed at recognizing remuneration sacrificed by senior leaders during the Covid-19 pandemic and linked to various aspects of the organization’s performance.
Just weeks after announcing the plans, the RFU announced record operating losses of £37.9m last month lay off over 40 employees in the latest round of layoffs.
The RFU also cut jobs in 2018 AND 2020.
BBC Sport spoke to a number of RFU staff who described staff anger over the level of pay awarded to senior staff, while two former bosses – Graeme Cattermole and Francis Baron – called on Sweeney and Ilube to resign, external on this issue.
