Heineken Cup gives €31m boost to rugby federations

EUROPEAN Rugby Cup (ERC), the Dublin-based company that manages the Heineken Cup, handed over more than €31 million to the Irish, English, Welsh, Scottish, French and Italian rugby federations last year.

The latest accounts for the company show a pre-tax profit of €170,000 for the year to the end of June 2009 following a loss of €170,000 in the previous 12 months.

Turnover for the year increased to €37.1m from €35.6m in the previous year.