RFL chief defends rugby league's new £12m loan

The sport has secured a £12m cash injection as part of a winter emergency rescue plan, on top of a £16m loan in May.

The money comes from a government fund to keep cash-strapped sports and clubs alive during the coronavirus crisis and was originally due to be paid back in five years’ time.

But RFL chief executive Ralph Rimmer stressed: “It’s worthless them lending money and a club still going bust, that’s the worst outcome of all. It would appear they have listened to that argument and those terms are going to be changed and improved.”

All UK-based top-flight clubs, some in the Championship and League One, the RFL and Super League have applied for a share of the initial £16m.

Loans, rather than grants, have led to fears clubs could be taking on long-term debt, but Rimmer said: “This is the money you and I pay in taxes - public purse money that comes with conditions.

"We have to handle it responsibly.

“The way we managed to secure it in the first instance showed a confidence in us and the responsible nature we used when dealing with it.

“The thing the government have to concern themselves with is that if they were to give grant funding to us how would they then fund off requests from other sports?

“The way the government has done it is pretty responsible, they’ve reacted to us with full engagement and delivered what we wanted.

"If we can extend the repayment period, which it looks like we are going to do, everybody gets a chance to plan their businesses accordingly and that will help us be a stable sport.”

Though league has received £107m less than rugby union, Rimmer insisted: “I think we’ve done something fairly dramatic for this sport and not only that, we are borrowing on a sustainable basis and that is a real key to this.

“This enables us to stabilise and produce some growth going forward.

"If we hadn’t delivered this then clubs would have fallen over because they’d have thrown the towel in.”

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