PRO Rugby is the professional union competition in the United States. It completed its first season back in July and employed various international like Mirco Bergamasco, Mils Muliaina along with Pedrie Wannenburg. The league owner Doug Schoninger said in a letter on Tuesday that contracts will be terminated if an agreement cannot be reached with US Rugby.
As reported by Rugby Today, the letters were sent to the players from the governing body of the sport in the USA. However, he insisted that the project was not closing down. The statements that were posted to the social media account of PRO Rugby read that it has plans for future competition and further quoted a line which was attributed to Mark Twain. It read that ‘Reports of our death have been greatly exaggerated.’
Schoninger wrote in that letter to players that they have been facing serious issues with the enforcement and cooperation of their agreement with USA Rugby. They have been actively trying to resolve all the issues with USA Rugby for more than four months, but they failed to reach any proper agreement.
From the looks of it, USA Rugby won’t honor the commitments that were made to them. He further added that they are hopeful, but they don’t have any assurances. They think that they will be able to resolve all the issues with USA Rugby before the end of the termination clause period.
According to Rugby Today, that period is 30 days and further mentioned that when the league year ends in the middle of March, players will end up losing two months’ worth pay. Schoninger further noted that the pay which was due on 15th December had been delayed, but it would be paid soon.
The governing body said in a statement that USA Rugby categorically rejects all types of allegations that were purported by PRO Rugby on 20th December, Tuesday. They are saddened to learn about the planned termination of all contracts that were valid and signed by athletes.
They fulfilled all their playing duties for the first season, and according to the schedule, they should have been paid for their entire 12-month contract. Schoninger made Dan Payne, USA Rugby Chief Executive, last week in NYC. The issues that were discussed include the sanctioning agreement of the PRO Rugby body.
The ItalianPRO 12 and Celtic competitions communicated their interests in operating franchises out of North America, and there were reports of Schoninger planning to buy the financially devastated Southern Kings Super Rugby Team of South Africa. The sanctioning agreement was reached between Schoninger and Nigel Melville, the USA Rugby Chief Executive back in 2015. It was supposed to run till 2019.
Meanwhile, in September, Schoninger strongly reacted to reports of PRO 12, telling the Guardian that he didn’t need distractions like that. He further added that what he has to do if the PRO 12 plan continues is that he wants to have a better version of them but not a better version of himself.
According to him, they all know how to have a good Rugby competition in the world. He says that it is as easy as pulling out a big chequebook.
Payne responded, expressing his support for PRO Rugby but did not decline interest from overseas. According to him, plans from outside needs to align with the plan and strategy that they are developing, which is further focused on growing the game within their borders. Meanwhile, the South African governing body, SA Rugby, told the media that USA Rugby clearly indicated that they did not support that particular move.