Spanish rugby club in turmoil as players refuse to turnout

Spanish club Real Ciencias Rugby Club Sevilla is in turmoil after players made public that the club hasn’t paid salaries for the last three months, even after reports that the board had reached an agreement and honoured their commitments to the roster.

The Real Ciencias, who had their best years in the 1990s, winning two Spanish Premiership, three Cups, and one Copa Ibérica, were in the process of building a semipro/pro roster to compete for the top prizes in the Spanish División de Honor, but their future is now in limbo.

The financial problems started in September, when the main sponsors pulled the plug – Enerside Energia, one of the biggest Energy companies in Spain, was the first to step down – and the municipality delayed municipal grants, forcing the board to find new solutions, solutions that never arrived in full.

In April, in the last fixture before the playoffs, the team refused to play and conceded a no-show defeat and fine.

Rafael Montserrat, president of the board, when interviewed by El Confindencial, said: "Players have been heroes. and true professionals, and we want to thank them by making things right. The municipality has promised to inject money in the foreseeable future."

Fede Ehgartner, loose-forward of the Sevillian club, explained what happened since late 2023 in a recent interview on “A 5 Metros” YouTube channel: “The problems started in December. The president paid the salaries of that month from his own pocket, and we understood that something wasn’t going well. But payments stopped until February, and we took a stand in the game against Alcobendas [the players sat down for one minute]. (…) We are in a rough spot, as some of the guys can’t pay their electrical bills, rent, and feed their families, and the board seems not to care.”

The club is home to Spanish internationals Marcos Muñiz, Enrique Cuadrado, Michael Hogg, Vicente del Hoyo, and Alvar Gimeno, and questions of their future are surrounding the team, as rivals VRAC, El Salvador and Burgos are eying some of the star players.

Spanish rugby is starting to get back on its feet, with rumours of a possible inclusion in a future EPCR Challenge Cup and a bid to host a Men’s and Women’s Rugby World Cup, but the situation with the Sevilla team adds a bit of uncertainty to that growth. Rugby in Spain is not recognized as professional, but some clubs and the union are trying to build a new top-tier club competition that will allow them to go to a new level.

Real Ciencias is celebrating its 52nd anniversary, and unfortunately, there’s a real risk that the club will have to change its ambitious goals due to the ongoing situation, even with a new sponsor joining in.