Irish chiefs confident Cup has future as boycott fears quelled

IRISH rugby chiefs firmly believe that the future of the Heineken Cup is safe.

Their comments follow reports that France and England’s top clubs will compete in the competition next year.

Ligue National de Rugby and Premier Rugby, the groups representing the Top 14 and Guinness Premiership sides, had threatened to boycott European competition next year due to a dispute with the Rugby Football Union over shares and voting rights in Heineken Cup Ltd.

However, the Sunday Times yesterday claimed that a compromise has been reached and a new five-year deal securing the future of the Heineken Cup will be signed tomorrow.

Yesterday the IRFU released a statement noting that they were pleased that it seems significant progress has been made towards reaching an agreement with regard to the Heineken Cup and the participation of both English and French clubs.’ IRFU Chief Executive Philip Browne said: “There has been a huge amount of work behind the scenes over the last number of weeks by all parties to find a solution and we can now look forward with cautious optimism that an agreement may be signed to secure the long term future of the competition.

“The importance of the competition to the professional game and in turn its influence on all other levels of the sport cannot be underestimated.’’

“The work of the IRB and its Chairman Syd Millar cannot be overlooked in bringing all the parties to this point and hopefully we will have an agreement in place as soon as possible.”

Meanwhile, RFU chairman Martyn Thomas stated: “I would be optimistic that we can have a new competition with both the English and French clubs participating.”

The ERC and the six participating unions in the Heineken Cup stated their intention to continue playing in the tournament next year without the English and French top-flight sides.

However, there were still doubts over whether the tournament could survive, given that the loss of so many high-profile sides would result in a massive drop in advertising and television revenue.

As a result, news of a reported resolution of the conflict is a massive boost for the Celtic and Italian nations, who could have seen many of their professional sides fold without the income generated from participation in European competition.