SA Rugby’s budget faces R258m shortfall

SA Rugby is facing the prospect of a R258 million budget deficit for the current financial year, according to a report.

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According to Afrikaans news publication Rapport, South African Rugby president Mark Alexander addressed body’s executive committee in Cape Town late last month and the organisation’s budget was one of the items on the agenda.

Alexander reportedly informed the exec committee of the massive shortfall, which has been compounded by SARU’s ongoing struggles to find a main sponsor for the 2023 Currie Cup.

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The report goes further to state that Alexander is currently also serving as acting CEO after Jurie Roux officially vacated his post at the end of 2022.

The governing body allegedly wants Rian Oberholzer — the administrator who is overseeing the Western Province Rugby Union — to replace Roux in the CEO seat, but they’ve been unable to convince him to undertake the role.

“The deficit can be attributed to the fact that SA Rugby does not want to cut its 14 unions’ grants,” a source told Rapport.

“The R258 million is the worst-case scenario that Alexander outlined. It could end up being less than that.

“The sponsors run because the unions change the Currie Cup every year. It’s the third sponsor running on it.”

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SA RUGBY ANNOUNCE DOMESTIC FIXTURES FOR 2023

The 2023 Currie Cup Premier Division will be expanded to eight teams as last year’s First Division champions, the Griffons, are added to the mix. The double-round Currie Cup will start on 10 March and run until the final on 24 June.

This will see an overlap with the URC and Champions/Challenge Cups, which means the provincial teams’ top players will hardly feature in the Currie Cup.

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