Saracens’ South African former owners sold their stake in the club partly because they feared it was breaching the Premiership salary cap.
The defending champions are being investigated after an expose by the Daily Mail revealed owner Nigel Wray had entered into business partnerships with Owen Farrell and the Vunipola brothers, Billy and Mako.
According to a report in The Times, the club’s former owners, including businessman Johan Rupert, who had a 50% stake in the club at the time, were concerned as to whether they were breaching the salary cap and made it clear that if they were they would walk away.
The Ruperts and their company, Remgro, sold their stake in the club last year, writing off debts of £25-million.
Premiership rules state that all arrangements between players and club officials must be declared to the salary cap manager.
The Premiership released a statement on Monday saying the organisation is considering the information in the expose ‘in detail’, while Saracens said in their own statement that all details in the report had been declared.
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