Saracens are spending £2m over the salary cap - and it's legal

Saracens are adamant they are playing by the Gallagher Premiership salary regulations which allows the club to spend nearly £9m on wages despite the agreed salary cap of £7m per season.

It is understood that Saracens are irritated by the constant claim that they are breaking the £7m agreed salary cap that is in place as it fails to take into account the Rugby Football Union incentives to have England qualified players in Premiership squads.

Thanks to the number of England qualified players – mainly homegrown - in their squad, Saracens along with other Premiership clubs in a similar position, receive extra funding from the RFU. That means Saracens can spend nearly £9m on wages and like other Premiership outfits, they are also allowed to have two marquee players on the pay roll who are outside the cap figure.

The club’s finances are under the spotlight with owner Nigel Wray revealed as jointly own businesses with England internationals Owen Farrell, Billy and Mako Vunipola and Richard Wigglesworth.

Despite the detailed report in the Daily Mail, the club are not adding to their statement which said: “It is not policy to supply specific details on publicly available information. The club readily complies with Premiership Rugby salary regulations and information relating to remuneration is declared to the salary cap manager.”

A spokesperson for Premiership Rugby said: “We take all information relating to the salary cap framework very seriously. We have received all the relevant information from Sportsmail and will consider it in detail to determine if any action needs to be taken. Premiership Rugby has a duty to all clubs to deliver the system in a transparent, objective and non- discriminatory manner.

“Each season, all our clubs are subject to a detailed independent audit of all player salaries and benefits to ensure they are fully declared and comply with the salary cap framework set by our board. We can't comment on the specifics of the Sportsmail story but will look closely at any information provided.

“Any decision on follow-up action would be taken with the assistance of independent bodies in accordance with the regulations.There can be several elements comprising salary and a full description of this — as well as a connected party — is included in the regulations which can be found at premiershiprugby.com.”

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