Cup of plenty: IRFU shares in €33m payout

THE EUROPEAN Rugby Cup Ltd, the company behind the Heineken Cup tournament, gave €32.73 million to representative bodies in Ireland, England, France, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the period to the end of June 2010, according to accounts filed recently.

The equivalent amount in the previous year was €31.28 million.

Turnover for the company in the year to end June 2010 was €38.8 million, compared with €37.1 million the previous year.

The company made a profit after donations of €100,000, compared with €170,000 the previous year. It is exempt from corporation tax.

Accumulated profits at year end were €2.1 million.

Administrative expenses, excluding donations, were €6 million. The company had an average of 16 employees during the year, at a cost of €1.66 million.

The accounts do not break down the company’s turnover. A large part of its income comes from TV rights.

The Irish Rugby Football Union, which is a shareholder in the company, has expressed concern about the effect on the funding of Irish rugby of any move to make all Ireland’s home games open to free-to-air broadcast.

The company has 13 directors, including Philip Browne, chief executive of the IRFU. The other Irish director is solicitor Peter Boyle.

The company’s chairman, French dentist Jean-Pierre Lux, was recently re-elected to the position.

Leicester director Peter Wheeler ran against him in the hope of getting enough votes to edge out the man who has been in the job since 1999, but was not successful.