text: Relegating Saracens 'only option left' | WorldMagazine NewsPaper Online
  23 06 2021 11:03
  Home Sport Relegating Saracens 'only option left'
  Relegating Saracens 'only option left'
  Darren Childs, Premiership Rugby CEO: "We're in new territory and these are exceptional circumstances. There was no precedent for this in our history"
  Last Updated: 21/01/20 10:50pm
  Saracens will be playing in the Championship next season
  Premiership Rugby insists automatic relegation was imposed on Saracens to preserve the integrity of the Premiership in response to their failure to comply with salary cap regulations for the current season.
  Saracens will be demoted to the Championship in June for failing to remain within allowed limits, the fourth successive year they have operated above the ceiling.
  Initially, they were sanctioned with a 35-point deduction and £5.36m fine that offered hope of staying in the Premiership, but last week patience ran out amongst their rivals.
  "We're in new territory and these are exceptional circumstances," said Premiership Rugby Limited (PRL) chief executive Darren Childs when asked about the swift escalation in punishment.
  Premiership Rugby CEO Darren Childs says they are in 'new territory'
  PRL has refused to publish the investigation overseen by Lord Dyson, who himself is surprised the dossier has not been released.
  Childs, however, revealed he would be willing to publish but is being blocked by Saracens.
  "The nuance here is that PRL have to set the rules and enforce the rules and not break the rules. The regulations say we can't publish Dyson's full decision," he added.
  'No winners in Saracens relegation case'
  England Rugby CEO Bill Sweeney says there are "no winners" in Saracens being relegated from the Premiership for breaching the salary cap