Stakes set to rise at Rome meeting

OPENING HANDS were placed on the table in what is liable to be a long drawn out game of poker, but many of the bluffs and counter bluffs were still to be played after the first meeting of ERC stakeholders in the Westbury Hotel in Dublin yesterday.

They convene again, in Rome on October 8th, to continue renegotiating a new ERC Accord, when the stakes are liable to rise further, not least as the vexed issue of conflicting television deals with Sky and BT Vision by ERC and Premiership Rugby appear to have been given little airing yesterday.

Most of those in attendance emerged intently tight-lipped at various points in the afternoon after a five hour meeting which began at 9.30am and, after a mid-morning coffee break, concluded at 3pm, but the meeting appears to have largely sidestepped the elephant in the room, perhaps because the respective television deals are still being examined by legal teams, and instead focused on the format and financial carve-up of the Heineken Cup.

The Anglo-French axis want a reduction from 24 to 20 teams, comprising the top six from each of the three qualifying leagues along with the Heineken and Amlin Cup winners, whereas the Celts and Italians would accede to some compromise from the current format, though not on that scale, and preferably while retaining a 24-team tournament.

All 10 parties to a new ERC accord – the representatives from the six competing Unions or Federations, and those from the club game in England, France and Wales plus the ERC itself – outlined their positions yesterday, after which ERC issued a fairly non-committal statement saying that “the meeting included productive discussions regarding the future of the club game in Europe with a general resolve among all stakeholders to reach agreement towards a new Accord”.

Afterwards, as to whether it will be a quick or slow process, ERC chief executive Derek McGrath commented: “All I can say on that is that we have agreed on the next meeting, but everybody is committed to engaging. Beyond that, how quickly really comes down to the points that we were discussing. There are a wide range of discussions and it is five years since we have had this type of discussion and, clearly, everything has moved on. All of our business models require review and that is part of the discussion that we are having now.”

The very fact that they are meeting again in just under three weeks time to coincide with the tournament’s launch in Rome (which may suggest an historic Rome final in the Stadio Olimpico is being pencilled in for 2015 on the small proviso that there is still a Heineken Cup) is encouraging. Although history has shown us that this process could run for the best part of two years, it also suggests all participants are mindful of the deadline set by the French clubs that a new Accord be agreed by the end of this season.

The vice-president of the LNR (Ligue Nationale de Rugby) Patrick Wolff, who has spoken positively about remaining within the tournament, said: “As usual we made exchanges about all the opinions from Celtic, English and French and set up another meeting. It was very friendly and cordial as usual, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we also didn’t argue,” he admitted with a chuckle. “We didn’t speak about law or political, we talked about sport and finance mostly.”

Specifically asked if there had been any discussion about a TV deal, Wolff indicated not by shaking his head. Likewise, whereas the IRFU chief executive Philip Browne had “no comment” the other IRFU representative Peter Boyle, augmented the feeling that little light was shed on Premiership Rugby’s €189 million TV deal with BT Vision which incorporated rights to games involving English clubs in any European competition. Asked if he had found out more about the BT Vision deal, Boyle answered “no”.

As to what had been achieved in the preceding five hours or so, he commented: “I think everyone has had the opportunity of hearing what everyone has to say.” He said the meeting had been “informative” rather than constructive, and was optimistic about a resolution. “I would think so,” he said.

The Welsh delegates left without any comment whatsoever, and likewise the RFU’s Rob Andrew and board member Peter Wheeler of Premiership Rugby, although the latter did not attend the stakeholders’ meeting as PR’s two representatives were their chief executive Mark McCafferty and deputy chairman Bruce Craig, Bath’s owner.

They were the last to emerge for their taxi to the airport. “It was a good discussion. As the ERC statement said, we aired the issues, as everyone expected and we’ll take it on to the 8th to see if we can make some progress,” said the unusually reticent McCafferty.

As to whether there will be a Heineken Cup after 2014, he commented: “It’s early days, and it’s the first real negotiations. We need to see and there’s two years on the clock for the Heineken (Cup) anyway.”

English talk of an Anglo/French breakaway has been given short shrift by the French and prior to yesterday’s talks, Wolff had been quoted by AFP as saying: “The English put a lot of pressure on us in the past few months to accept the idea of an alternative Franco/Anglo club competition almost like it was a condition before discussing anything else.

“That we did not want to do. Save a catastrophic failure at the negotiations, which I don’t think will happen, we want to play with the Celts and with the English.”