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Saracens chief executive Griffiths issues denial following UK newspaper allegations

(Photo by Henry Browne/Getty Images)

New Saracens chief executive Ed Griffiths has denied working as a cricket agent, following claims he has been reported to the England and Wales Cricket Board.

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Griffiths has rejected any wrongdoing after reports in a UK national newspaper that the ECB is investigating a possible conflict of interest over his consultancy role with Middlesex.

The former South Africa Rugby Union adviser has rejoined Saracens to help steer the Gallagher Premiership club through the salary cap scandal that resulted in the London side accepting the punishment of relegation at the end of this season.

“I am not an agent, I have never acted as an agent and I have never received a commission to work as an agent,” Griffiths told the PA news agency.

“I have worked as a consultant acting for Middlesex for the last three years, helping players there with areas beyond cricket, and that’s involved doing lots of things that would perhaps in other circumstances be thought of as things an agent would do. But I have only ever been acting on behalf of and for Middlesex.”

(Continue reading below…)

Eddie Jones insists the Saracens scandal could be beneficial to England

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Griffiths played a key role in South Africa hosting the 1995 Rugby World Cup before his first stint as Saracens chief executive between 2008 and 2015.

He has returned to Saracens to help the English club deal with the fallout from the salary cap breaches that will lead to relegation at the end of the current campaign.

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An independent panel’s 103-page judgement into Saracens’ salary cap breaches has this week condemned the club’s “egregious” conduct.

Saracens were found guilty of “reckless” failure to comply with the £7million salary cap, in the initial investigation that led to a £5.36million fine and a 35-point deduction.

Saracens have since been handed automatic relegation over failure to meet salary cap regulations for the current campaign.

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Griffiths insisted there has been no conflict of interest in his dealings with Middlesex, adding: “I have never received a commission or a payment from a player at all. I have contacted the ECB and spoken to the head of integrity about this.” Both the ECB and Middlesex declined to comment when contacted by the PA news agency.

Meanwhile, Premiership Rugby’s handling of the Saracens salary cap scandal could be the subject of a parliamentary inquiry.

Conservative MP Damian Collins, who is standing for re-election as chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee, has criticised Premiership bosses for allowing the crisis to unfold and says it is “right to challenge” how they handled it.

“The situation at Saracens has clearly been a problem for a long time,” he said. “Things should never have been allowed to develop in the way they did and it’s right for people to challenge the Premiership as to why it didn’t take more effective action sooner.

“It has, though, now given Saracens the heaviest punishment it could, which gives a clear warning to others.”

– Press Association 

WATCH: Damning report reveals the extent of Saracens’ salary cap breaches

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Bull Shark 5 hours ago
Rassie Erasmus' Boks selection policy is becoming bizarre

To be fair, the only thing that drives engagement on this site is over the top critiques of Southern Hemisphere teams.


Or articles about people on podcasts criticizing southern hemisphere teams.


Articles regarding the Northern Hemisphere tend to be more positive than critical. I guess to also rile up kiwis and Saffers who seem to be the majority of followers in the comments section. There seems to be a whole department dedicated to Ireland’s world ranking news.


Despite being dialled into the Northern edition - I know sweet fokall about what’s going on in France.


And even less than fokall about what’s cutting in Japan - which has a fast growing, increasingly premium League competition emerging.


And let’s not talk about the pacific. Do they even play rugby Down there.


Oh and the Americas. I’ve read more articles about a young, stargazing Welshman’s foray into NFL than I have anything related to either the north and south continents of the Americas.


I will give credit that the women’s game is getting decent airtime. But for the rest and the above; it’s just pathetic coming from a World Rugby website.


Just consider the innovation emerging in Japan with the pedigree of coaches over there.


There’s so much good we could be reading.


Instead it’s unimaginative “critical for the sake of feigning controversial”. Which is lazy, because in order to pull that off all you need to be really good at is:


1. Being a doos;

2. Having an opinion.


No prior experience needed.


Which is not journalism. That’s like all or most of us in the comments section. People like Finn (who I believe is a RP contributor).


Anyway. Hopefully it will get better. The game is growing and the interest in the game is growing. Maybe it will attract more qualified journalists over time.

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