Martin Anayi: URC chief executive believes new Welsh rugby finance deal close
- Published
United Rugby Championship chief Martin Anayi has overseen the competition's expansion to 16 teams
United Rugby Championship (URC) chief Martin Anayi believes the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) and the four regional teams will agree a new funding deal.
The WRU has not yet reached a financial deal with Ospreys, Cardiff, Scarlets and Dragons despite negotiations lasting many months.
It means the regions still do not know budgets from 2023-24 onwards.
"We get briefed regularly... our understanding is the funding model will be agreed," Anayi said.
"We don't want to be necessarily directly involved in that, but it's important that we have four really strong regions in Wales and that they're competing successfully in the URC.
"And at the moment what we're seeing is the Dragons beat the Ospreys and Cardiff beat the Stormers, and I'm sure we'll see a resurgence from the Scarlets as well.
"So we want that to continue, we want a deal to be struck... I think the WRU and the regions are going to resolve it, that's my understanding.
"Offers have been made, they're being negotiated. Obviously it's in the context of the regions needing the funding, but my understanding is that there will be no problem with that."
The Professional Rugby Board (PRB) runs the professional game in Wales and is made up of representatives from the WRU and the four regions.
Both the PRB's independent chair Malcolm Wall and WRU group chief executive Steve Phillips sit on the URC board as each organisation has a vested interest in the other.
As well as expecting Welsh rugby to finally agree a new financial deal, Anayi believes that the model helps cushion teams from the threat of entering administration in the way that has been recently seen in the English Premiership with Worcester and Wasps.
"We're very close to the situation in Wales as you'd expect, but we're very hopeful for a funding deal to be struck," said Anayi, speaking on a media call for the BKT United Rugby Championship.
"That's how I see it... it's an exchange of services for money between the union and the regions. The unions are getting access to their players that they require to be successful and Wales have been doing that for a long period of time.
"In return for that they pay the region and so it's the continuation of that long-term model that they're in discussions and negotiations with at the moment.
"What I can say from a league perspective, if a club in Wales does go into administration then the union is a shareholder, the union is obliged to provide the amount of teams that we currently have to the competition.
"That's probably why in the past you've seen the union step in to the Dragons, that's why you've seen in the past in Italy, for example, the union (Italian Rugby Federation) step in to Zebre.
"That gives, hopefully, a level of security that perhaps they don't have in England.
"It's just very important we have 16 teams in our competition. It's going very well at the moment and we want the Welsh teams to be stronger.
"And of course once they have their deal secured, that's their long-term future secured, then we'll be happy with that - it gives a better place to start from in terms of those teams being competitive and ultimately going to win the URC, which is what we want them to do."
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