phatguerilla wrote: Bernard Jackman made the point on second captains that the French clubs have to show accounts to the league every year and I think he said they're not allowed make a loss (might have that a bit mixed up), or else have to show a minimum earning. Basically the point was they're not allowed make massive losses like the English clubs.

Correct, the finances of the clubs are heavily regulated and breaches of the rules are severely punished. Rules are imposed by the independent regulators the Direction Nationale d'Aide et de Contrôle de Gestion (D.N.A.C.G.) and clubs are regularly hauled before it when proejcted revenues fall short during the season.

Recent examples of punitive measures include the demotion of Montauban to amateur rugby in 2009/2010 and restrictions imposed on Bourgoin, which resulted in their relegation to ProD2. Stade Francais was also in bother two seasons ago following the collapse of one of their sponsors.

Bernard Jackman made the point on second captains that the French clubs have to show accounts to the league every year and I think he said they're not allowed make a loss (might have that a bit mixed up), or else have to show a minimum earning. Basically the point was they're not allowed make massive losses like the English clubs.

Oh I doubt Wray and friends will be coughing up their Stellenbosch red in shock.

It's been widely rumoured that some of the richer English clubs circumvent the wage cap by hiring players' wives/girlfriends/siblings on inflated wages of 50-100K to do backoffice/marketing/matchday work.

The only definite fingerpointing was from LI and Newcastle towards millionaire backed Worcester (remarks later withdrawn), though it could be pointed out that Bath and Saracens are generating enormous losses year-on-year, while Leicester (in particular) and Northampton generate millions more in turnover beyond the salary cap, but return tiny profits.

There was a very interesting interview with Mourad Boudjellal in yesterday's Midi-Olympique, the French rugby paper. He was asked about the Toulon budget, where it comes from, salaries, outgoings, etc...It's not online yet but it makes very interesting reading. In summary...RCT budget is <em>greater than EUR 30 million</em>, which comes from a variety of sources:

EUR 10 million in ticket sales! Bear in mind that the stadium only holds 14 500, although some games have been played in Nice and Marseille.
EUR 11.2 million from commercial partners, he makes it clear that he isn't one of them.
EUR 4.8 million from marketing rights (RCT branded sportswear and income from the club bars)
EUR 2.9 million subvention from local authorities, mostly the city of Toulon
EUR 1.0 million from Burrda, the match jersey and team kit manufacturer
EUR 1.4 million from Canal Plus (Top 14 TV rights)
EUR 0.8 million from H-Cup
EUR 0.8 insurance pay-outs on injured players

Obviously, ahem, the club keeps within the salary cap (approx. EUR 10 million) and spends some EUR 8.55 million on wages.

Then it gets more interesting...In the case of five or six players, Toulon has put in place a legal mechanism, "its not a secret", which has enabled RCT "to pay these players a wage supplement that is not included in the calculation of the salary cap". He then provides details of the arrangements for Wilko (c), based on his image rights, which allows the club to top up his salary, taking it to "less than a million"(!). He then goes on to deny hints and allegations that his English recruits are paid via a transfer mechanism based in Jersey rather than the club's own bank in France.

The interview leaves to more questions unanswered than resolved. Perhaps another newspaper, such as L'Equipe, might have been more forensic. On the other hand, I could imagine Nigel Wray and Craig Bruce <em>et al</em> choking on their cornflakes as they prepare for the season ahead.