Salford Red Devils financial latest as restrictions loom and RFL tackle crisis

Salford Red Devils’ players and staff have still not received their salaries for the month of February: with interventions from the Rugby Football League looming yet again.

The Red Devils were taken over last month by an investment group led by Swiss banker Dario Berta. The governing body approved that takeover having seen the required proof of funding needed to lift a sustainability cap of £1.2million imposed on the Salford squad.

But barely two weeks later, and potential sanctions look increasingly set to return. Salford’s players were not paid on time at the end of last week, something coach Paul Rowley conceded was on the players’ minds as they were heavily beaten by Hull KR.

The hope was that the money would materialise in time for the start of this week – but Love Rugby League has been told that it is still yet to appear in bank accounts, and players are still waiting to be paid.

That has left Salford’s players in the extraordinary position of opting not to train in the run-up to Friday’s away game against Castleford Tigers, with huge uncertainty growing over that fixture.

Salford would ordinarily train on a Wednesday for a Friday fixture before taking the day off on Thursday. That means that, as it stands, there is only one more scheduled training session in the run-up to the game in West Yorkshire if the Red Devils are on their usual training schedule.

And should the players opt against training on Wednesday, it puts them in a unique and tricky situation – and restrictions from the RFL could further complicate matters, too.

It now appears likely the governing body could re-impose a sustainability cap on the squad which would see them limited by who they can select.

But that would not solve or even begin to address the mounting concern over players and staff being owed salaries for the month of February.

Whether it would raise the issue of a player sale remains to be seen: though sources at Salford have told Love Rugby League even that would now be tricky given how the prospect was mooted before this season, and never materialised.

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