Bill Sweeney, the chief executive of the Rugby Football Union, will face demands to sack him after a community revolt tabled its request for a special general meeting on a night of tension between the warring parties.
A total of 141 signatories were included in the letter sent to the RFU on Thursday, easily exceeding the 100 member clubs needed to activate the SGM under the governing body's rules.
A statement from the Rugby Football Referees Union (RFRU), which is leading the popular uprising, revealed that the initial resolution under discussion at the SGM would include a call for the board to end Sweeney's employment “as soon as practicable”.
Football Association chairman Tom Elop was the main target of the rebellion, but resigned from his post last month in response to anger over the executive pay and bonus scandal that has engulfed Twickenham.
RFU president Tom Elop resigned from his position last month
However, upon receipt of the letter, the RFU claimed that it contained “a number of inaccuracies” and that it “does not comply with the relevant requirements and is therefore invalid as a requirement of the SGM”.
It also said that the nine professional referees it employs have distanced themselves from the RFU, with officials declaring “we did not endorse any statements or meetings they proposed.”
A spokesman for the 141 clubs seeking a vote of no confidence in Sweeney responded by insisting the RFU were using technical measures to avoid being held accountable.
The spokesman said: “The Russian Federation can play for time as it wants, but this is a mass movement by a stronger and united team.”
“Breaking hairs over the rules of what is or is not a valid form of complaint is merely postponing the inevitable.”
It was revealed in the RFU's accounts published in November that Sweeney received a wage of £1.1m for the 2023-24 financial year, which consists of an increased salary of £742,000 and a bonus of £358,000.
Bonuses totaling almost £1m were paid to five other executives, although the RFU reported an operating loss of £37.9m for 2023-24, the highest it has ever recorded.
In addition, 42 staff were made redundant in September, the England men's team has won just five of its 12 matches in 2024, and grassroots participation is declining.
Other areas of contention mentioned in the letter to the RFU are excessive bureaucracy and mismanagement, the cutting of development officers, the “debacle” over the introduction of a new high intervention into the community game and the cost of sacking the former England international. Coach Eddie Jones.
Eddie Jones was sacked as England manager in December 2022 after seven years in the job
“What you are seeing is the result of years of frustration that has affected every level of our game,” Chichester RFC chairman Paddy McAlpine said.
“Now it has been sparked by the anger clubs felt when executives took their bonuses. Every club I know wants to see change at the top.”
At an emergency meeting of the RFU Council last month, it was announced that the organization had suffered “damage to its reputation” due to the wages scandal.
Elop oversaw its compensation committee, which was responsible for introducing a Long-Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) bonus plan designed to retain executives during the pandemic, which caused an uproar.
An independent review of the LTIP system is being conducted by a law firm.
