RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney wins confidence vote as grassroots revolt fails | Rugby Football Union

The RFU chief executive, Bill Sweeney, has survived a vote of no confidence in his leadership at a special general meeting at the Allianz Stadium.

A motion of no confidence in Sweeney and proposal for the RFU directors to terminate his contract was rejected by 466 votes to 206 after an 80-minute meeting.

There were 36 abstentions, with the 708 votes registered representing the biggest turnout in an RFU vote for more than 20 years, albeit still little more than 50% of the membership. A second motion brought by the RFU, proposing greater devolution of powers to the regions to address local issues, was passed with an 80% majority.

The RFU interim chair, Bill Beaumont, called for unity after the vote and described the outcome as “emphatic” in his closing address, but the wounds of this long-running dispute will take some time to heal. The trigger for this revolt led by the Whole Game Union, an alliance of Championship, grassroots clubs and refereeing bodies, was the revelation in November that Sweeney received a £358,000 bonus last year, taking his overall remuneration to £1.1m, despite the RFU reporting losses of £37.9m.

“This is not a time to argue, but to pull together,” Beaumont said. “The time for division is past. Now is the time to unite behind an opportunity to renew English rugby.

“Let us put behind this period of in-fighting and modernise the union. Let’s get back to focusing on the many positives in our game. Every single player who puts that white shirt on started off in community rugby – every single one of them.”

The final decision on Sweeney’s future lies with the RFU board, but it has backed him throughout and after he received almost 66% of the vote, the RFU views the result as an endorsement of his position.

Sweeney did not speak during or after the meeting, but received the strong backing of the former international referee and RFU board member Wayne Barnes.

“One thing that rugby has always told me is that if there are two sides to an argument, when the referee makes a decision, you move on,” Barnes said. “What we’ve seen tonight is a decision being made by the members. And quite a strong decision, 66% of the vote saying that Bill Sweeney should remain.

“We’ve had a clear instruction to move on with what we’ve learnt over the last few months. Sir Bill Beaumont has been around the clubs, listening, understanding what the concerns of the game are. We want to action them. We will challenge our executive team to do exactly what they have been tasked to do.”

Having previously threatened to petition for a second SGM including a motion for the entire RFU board to resign if they were defeated, representatives of the Whole Game Union sounded a more conciliatory tone last night. The Nottingham chair, Alistair Bow, welcomed the devolution of power and said the clubs would continue to hold the RFU to account, with 11 proposals for further governance changes to be presented at their AGM in June.

“I think the result was not as important as what comes next,” Bow said. “What I think we have seen is a very strong support for change. When you look at the numbers [in support of Sweeney] I think that clearly shows you that there’s a big problem in the game.

“If it was in the corporate world, as a CEO you would be in a spot of bother, you wouldn’t be surviving. What has been said tonight is that clubs want change and they are expecting to see change.

“I think the strong message from speaking to Bill Sweeney and Bill Beaumont afterwards is that we’re going to see change. I think they know that the world has been looking at us tonight and the rugby public are expecting to see change. We’re going to see how that plays out. Hopefully we can work together. The hard work starts today.”