Twickenham's deal with television is illegal according to the man who helped negotiate it. Tony Hallett, speaking for the first time since he resigned as the English rugby union's secretary, says that English and French clubs will shortly combine forces to challenge the power of the International Board (IB) in the European Court. The spoils will be the broadcasting rights and sponsorship deals currently held by the major unions. "I feel there is trouble ahead. I cannot see that clubs with serious investments in them will accept the current situation when they think how it is in football, to name but one sport," Hallett told Rugby News.
The tug-of-war between the top clubs and the RFU over control of the game's revenues will be given fresh impetus when Sir John Hall, owner of Newcastle, goes to the European Court. Hallett believes Hall will win the test case.
"The IB has set regulations that only governing bodies may investigate broadcasting rights," he said. "I think they are wrong and European law will demonstrate that. It seems an absolutely restrictive practice. Hallett defended his action last year in concluding a £87.5 million five-year deal with BSkyB on the grounds that it was the best available means of preventing a damaging split in English rugby.
"It was the only way to make sure Sky didn't buy club rugby - had they paid clubs say £40 million, that would have been a powerful motivation."
Hallett dismissed last year's threat by the other home unions to throw England out of the Five Nations Championship as a huge bluff and he insisted that the RFU never wanted to pursue a go-it-alone policy in its dealing with BSkyB. "We were hamstrung because of the traditional practice of dealing through the four home unions," he explained. "It was like having a ball and chain around the ankle of the RFU."
France's assurances to the RFU that they would continue to play England annually constituted a strong bargaining counter that would have dispelled the exclusion threat, according to Hallett. "We should have stared the problem out. I don't think it would ever have come to an alternative breakaway situation. The whole thing was a very grand bluff which the RFU fell for.
"It would have been pointless throwing us out because it was a valueless competition without us all in it together. But the (RFU) committee lost their appetite for the fight. I don't think the backbone or the will was there . . . to take a hard-nosed business approach."
