News Ltd has just released a media statement on the Melbourne Storm decision.
It reads:
News Limited today said there could be further penalties against Melbourne Storm management and others involved in the salary cap rorts that have cost the club the 2007 and 2009 premierships, a substantial fine and a place in the 2010 finals.
News’ chairman and chief executive John Hartigan expressed his disappointment and anger today, condemning those at the club that have admitted involvement.
“Today is a regrettable day in the history of the game,” he said.
“I don’t think there will be a league fan anywhere who is not outraged by what appears to be a highly orchestrated, deeply deceptive fraud in which there was systematic and deliberate concealment of unlawful payments to certain players over an extended period.”
Mr Hartigan said the unprecedented penalties imposed by the NRL today were warranted.
As well as the NRL penalties, News announced a range of actions effective today including:
· The appointment of accounting firm Deloitte to conduct a forensic audit of the club’s accounts and financial affairs;
· Standing down two senior staff still employed by the club who are implicated in the deception pending the outcome of the audit;
· Appointing highly respected rugby league administrator Frank Stanton as caretaker CEO of the club;
· Preparing to take further action against club officials and any other parties if the Deloitte investigation finds others are or were knowingly involved in the deception.
News met Storm management at an emergency meeting in Sydney today ahead of a meeting with the NRL.
The company said other actions included referring the matter to the police. As well as commissioning the forensic audit, News Limited and the board of the Melbourne Storm are cooperating fully with the NRL’s investigation.
The precise details of the fraud are still being established but it is believed to have involved breaches of $1.7 million over 5 years and that a number of current and former Storm officials colluded with third parties to make secret payments to a number of players.
“This elaborate collusion and the scale of the deception has been concealed from News Limited and it is our understanding that it has been concealed from the Board of the Storm,” Mr Hartigan said.
The NRL discovered the discrepancies when it compared the remuneration amounts in the club’s letters of offer to the players, with amounts disclosed in the formal contracts the club has with those players that were lodged with the NRL.
Mr Hartigan added: “I regret we have probably not yet uncovered the full extent of this fraud. Make no mistake, News does not tolerate this behaviour.
“I want to apologise unreservedly to the vast majority of people at the club who are victims of this fraud and to the other 15 premiership clubs, to the Storm’s thousands of loyal fans and rugby league fans everywhere, and to the Storm’s sponsors and people who support what the club does including the Victorian Government,” Mr Hartigan said.
“News remains committed to the Storm in Melbourne. However, the company will support further action against the club by the NRL, and take further action of its own against the club or individuals if the extent of the breaches widens,” he said.
News makes it a condition of the internal and external audits that are conducted into the club’s affairs annually, that Storm management must verify in writing each quarter that its contractual obligations to the NRL under the salary cap have been complied with and, specifically, that there is no fraud.
“These assurances were given but they were not true,” Mr Hartigan said.
