London Irish have been granted an extra week by the Rugby Football Union to complete a takeover of the club.
Irish’s owners have been in protracted talks with an American consortium over the sale of the Premiership side.
However, a deadline of 30 May had been set by the RFU, otherwise the club risked suspension from the Premiership.
But it is understood another week has now been allowed, as long as the current ownership are able to pay wages on Wednesday.
If the deal is not completed they risk being suspended from next season’s Premiership and, if the current ownership refused to fund the club going forward, Irish would be the third club this season to suffer financial ruin.Sources close to the deal insist talks are ongoing, but there was always doubt that a deal could get completed in time for the previous deadline.It means current London Irish owner Mick Crossan will need to step in to stop the club going to the wall, as was the case with Wasps and Worcester earlier in the season.Crossan, who took over the club in 2013, met last month’s payroll just as players were preparing to hand in breach of contract notices, which would have allowed them to leave the club in the event their wages went unpaid.On 15 May, the RFU said the timescale had been set to “avoid a scenario where the club enters insolvency mid-season, with the corresponding and substantial impact that has on players, staff and fans, as well as on the remainder of the league”.The governing body for rugby in England added: “This deadline was set to give enough time for the buyers to provide the information needed and for the transaction to complete.”
