Australia’s bid to form the 15th Super rugby team is being undermined by feuding between the Australian Rugby Union’s management and a disgruntled consortium that says it has been sidelined from the bidding process.
Melbourne has been chosen by the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) to counter South Africa’s Southern Kings’ bid to field the 15th team when the Super competition expands in 2011.
After three groups lodged interest in forming the 15th team, the ARU said it would work with them to present a single, unified bid.
But one of the groups, a consortium backed by the provincial Victoria Rugby Union, said it was left out of consultations and has slammed the ARU’s management for throwing its weight behind a rival consortium supported by a Sydney-based mining magnate.
”We had an expectation that there was going to be a [consultation] process … It’s certainly perplexing,” VRU President Gary Gray told Reuters in a telephone interview.
”There has been a failure to appreciate the level of support and commitment that the Victorian corporate and rugby community have to the involvement of a professional team.”
The ARU’s spokesperson was unavailable for comment.
The ARU’s board of directors has since come under pressure to reject its management’s recommendation, casting a cloud over the Australia’s organisation of its bid against the Southern Kings, an already established franchise promised government backing.
”The ARU management’s recommendation regarding the award of the licence of the new Super 15 team in Victoria will test whether those occupying the seats on the ARU board are willing to subject the management to the scrutiny this critical decision deserves,” Rob Clarke, a former CEO of Super club ACT Brumbies, told the Australian newspaper on Monday.
”This incident should have the alarm bells ringing in the ears of every ARU board director of the risk that their management is running out of control.”
Squabbling
ARU chief executive John O’Neill said the dispute was threatening to imperil Melbourne’s bid and millions of dollars of revenues from the sale of TV rights.
”Everyone wants to be on the bus but they’re squabbling over who wants to be the driver,” O’Neill told Australian.
”It’s very much about local personalities, and it’s exploded like Mt Vesuvius with a bucket of the proverbial being thrown over the ARU.
”If Melbourne don’t get their act together, there is a real risk of losing the franchise to South Africa.”
While the 15th team is set to play in Australia as part of a new conference-driven format in 2011, South Africa New Zealand and Australian Rugby (Sanzar) have affirmed the Southern Kings’ bid despite the logistical challenges of flying teams between the continents for matches.
The awarding of the 15th team to the Kings would downgrade the ARU’s bargaining position as it negotiates a price for TV rights, O’Neill said.
”We’re in the middle of selling our broadcast rights, and [media firm] News Ltd have indicated they will pay a premium if the fifth team is based in Australia,” he said.
”The significant increase in local content is the driver of the expected increase.”
Sanzar is expected to announce the winning bidder in October. – Reuters