Government officials 'more pessimistic' about financial health of rugby union

Yesterday at 04:24 PM

Fate of Worcester, Wasps and London Irish has left DCMS officials concerned about the state of the sport

Government officials say they are increasingly pessimistic over the financial stability of professional rugby union, as they defended loans given to sports organisations during the pandemic.

A National Audit Office (NAO) report published last year said that as much as £29m of a total £474 million lent to sports organisations during the pandemic will not be recovered. Central among the defaulters are three rugby clubs – Worcester, Wasps and London Irish – who went into administration after being lent £41.6m in public money.