Edinburgh make formal mediation offer

Edinburgh have made a fresh bid to enter into mediation with the Scottish Rugby Union to avoid their bitter financial dispute ending up in court.

Owner Bob Carruthers claims the union owe his club a six-figure sum from Magners League and Heineken Cup fees, which the SRU refute.

Their row has escalated in the past seven days with Edinburgh withdrawing 12 players from Scotland training duty and resigning their associate membership of the SRU.

Carruthers claims he is prepared to go to court to resolve the funding disagreement but he is eager to avoid a damaging legal battle.

A statement from the club this morning read: “Edinburgh Rugby Ltd has formally offered to enter into mediation with SRU plc.

“Pending a response, Edinburgh Rugby will make no further statement.”

Carruthers claims the SRU, who he bought the club from a year ago, have so far rejected all offers of mediation and refuse to hold talks.

The dispute heightened on Monday when the SRU maintained Edinburgh’s decision to resign from the SRU meant they would be unable to fulfil their fixtures next season.

However, Carruthers insists they can compete against other clubs because they remain affiliated to the SRU.

The Edinburgh owner, whose brother Alex quit as chairman last week in frustration at the SRU’s stance, maintained yesterday that he was willing to settle the row outside the courtroom.

But the likelihood of that happening remains slim as he also revealed the SRU, who have debts of around £23million, had tried to instigate disciplinary action against his club.

“Clearly this is a dispute that needs to be resolved and resolved quickly,” Carruthers said.

“There are arbitration firms all around the place (Edinburgh), you could have this sorted in 10 minutes.

“It must be an independent firm of arbiters who look at this dispute and resolve it in the best interests of Edinburgh and Scottish rugby.

“We have formally offered mediation on a number of occasions to SRU plc and we don’t understand why they won’t take up the offer.

“Are they really going to spend their limited resources in the Court of Session when literally, tomorrow, two lawyers and two blokes could sit down and resolve this whole matter?

“The only other option is the Court of Session and that would be absolutely crazy.”

The SRU last week reported Edinburgh to the International Rugby Board over their decision to withdraw players from Scotland training, but the club insisted they did not need to do so until July 13.

Carruthers yesterday pledged the players would be released when Frank Hadden’s squad return from holiday next week.