What has been a difficult year for the Southern Kings on and off the field has been capped with the Port Elizabeth-based franchise being withdrawn from any planned domestic competitions.
This means the Kings will not take part in the Currie Cup should SA Rugby be able to put it together in the midst of the lockdown. Travel regulations have also curtailed PRO14 participation.
Eastern Province Rugby Union president André Rademan‚ who is also Southern Kings chairman, said they were forced into the decision by their perilous financial situation. The Kings simply could not afford to take part in a domestic tournament.
“We could opt to field the Kings in the domestic competitions mooted by SA Rugby for the sport’s post-lockdown resumption if we so wished. If we did so‚ it would require additional loans to the Kings or extra investment from the shareholders to the tune of R6.5m‚ which would add to the organisation’s existing substantial debt‚” Rademan said.
“However‚ as there was no contractual requirement for the Kings to resume short-term participation in the Guinness PRO14 competition‚ because of air-travel restrictions‚ and as the Kings had no other commercial commitments to honour‚ the most prudent decision was to withdraw.”
While the Kings have been in perpetual turbulence throughout their existence‚ there seemed to be a ray of sunshine and consistency when the Greatest Rugby Company in the Whole Wide World (GRC) acquired a 74% stake in the franchise in 2019.
However‚ that all unravelled in June 2019 when SA Rugby took back control of the franchise after the GRC was unable to meet contractual commitments.
The franchise was also plagued by inability to pay salaries on time in 2020‚ a situation that was worsened by the Covid-19 lockdown that seriously dented rugby’s finances locally and abroad.
While the board’s decision effectively means the end of the rugby year for the Kings, Rademan said the players’ contracts would be honoured even though financial prudence remained important.
“We had been considering further short-term contracts to see the squad through to the end of the year. But it became apparent that we would‚ for want of a better phrase‚ be throwing good money after bad in the current global environment‚” Rademan said.
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