APPENDIX 20
Supplementary memorandum submitted by
the All-Party Parliamentary Rugby League Group
At its last meeting, the All-Party Parliamentary
Rugby League Group instructed me to write to you in the hope that
your Committee, before concluding its inquiry into the future
of professional rugby, will have the opportunity to look at the
background to the current controversy in professional Rugby League
over proposed mergers of a number of clubs.
The Group is of the opinion that the current
moves towards mergers—which we do not believe to be in the
best interests of the game—illustrate quite clearly the
difficulties arising from the administration of Rugby League by
the three different entities of the Rugby Football League, Super
League and Northern Ford Premiership. We believe that recent developments
have underlined the key point made in our evidence about the need
for a common administrative unit within Rugby League and my Group
hopes that your Committee will take note of further concerns.
November 1999
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