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Bill Sweeney, the chief executive of England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU), has survived a vote of no confidence after a special general meeting of the organisation.
Sweeney has faced calls to resign his position since the RFU annual report revealed in November that the English rugby chief had accepted a bonus of £358,000 in a year that the union reported record losses.
The controversial awarding of the bonus under the long-term incentive plan (LTIP) inflamed tensions between the chief executive and the sport, with the introduction of a new tackle-height law in the community game, the reduction in funding provided to Championship clubs and the poor performance of the senior men’s team also attracting criticism in recent years.
A group of clubs and bodies entitled the Whole Game Union (WGU) successfully triggered the SGM after attracting a sufficient number of signatures in an uprising initially spearheaded by the Rugby Football Referees' Union and Championship clubs.
But their attempted ousting has failed, with the vote of no confidence failing to pass on Thursday night after late interventions from RFU interim chair, Bill Beaumont, and other senior figures within rugby union.
Sweeney won a vote of member clubs by 466 to 206, with the resolution failing at the SGM. There were 36 abstentions.
A resolution tabled by the RFU around governance reform and a further devolution of power passed.
“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.”
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