Italians locked out by Celtic unions
Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:14
The big prize: The Magners League Trophy
The hoped of Italian clubs to join the Celtic nations of Ireland, Wales and Scotland in the Magners league have been dashed, after it was confirmed on Friday that they have effectively been locked out.
In a statement the Board of Celtic Rugby Ltd said they are "disappointed" that it has not proven possible to conclude a satisfactory agreement with the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) that would have seen the addition of two Italian teams into the Magners League from September this year.
"In March 2009 Celtic Rugby agreed in principle to the possible enlargement of the Magners League through the addition of two Italian teams subject to certain conditions being met in terms of commercial, finance, playing standards and playing/spectator facilities," a statement from the Celtic unions said.
"Celtic Rugby engaged Deloitte to conduct a comprehensive 'due diligence' process to satisfy the shareholders and existing Magners League clubs of the feasibility, financial and otherwise of this structural change to the Magners League and in particular to ensure there was no resulting net cost to the existing ten clubs.
"Following an extensive process that involved consultations with FIR and its nominated clubs, the existing Magners League participants and Celtic Rugby, Deloitte provided a report to Celtic Rugby in December 2009, clarifying the various parameters that had been met and that would need to be met.
"Despite extensive discussions between Celtic Rugby and FIR in December and January it has not been possible to reach a satisfactory agreement by the deadline set of end January 2010, clarity being required at this point in order to plan not only the Magners League but also Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup for the 2010/2011 season.
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