USA Rugby denies PRO Rugby allegations

After news broke out yesterday that PRO Rugby alerted all of its players that they’re being terminated, USA Rugby has today denied any and all allegations purported by PRO Rugby.

In yesterday's statement, PRO Rugby owner and CEO Doug Schoninger assigned blame to USA Rugby, alleging that the national governing body didn't sufficiently protect PRO's exclusive sanctioning rights:

"As some of you may or may not know, we have been having serious issues with the cooperation and the enforcement of our agreement with USA Rugby. We have been actively trying to resolve our issues with USA Rugby for over four months and, unfortunately, it appears that USA Rugby will not honor the commitments they made to us.

Because of this, we are notifying all presently agreed players of PRO Rugby that we are exercising the Voluntary Termination clause in your contract (section 5(b)). We are hopeful, but with no assurances, that we will be able to resolve all issues with USA Rugby prior to end of the termination clause period. We will keep you up to date with any progress or news as it becomes available.

Please remember, until the end of the termination clause you are still an employee of PRO Rugby and all duties and obligations should be adhered to.

I am very sorry that we were forced to take this action and we are trying to do everything we can to ensure that PRO Rugby, its players, coaches, and employees are all treated fairly."

While players should be paid while they're still employed over the next 30 days, most were contracted for 12 months and will lose out on money they've already earned.

USA Rugby CEO Dan Payne said their policy is to "not speak to disputes in the media, and will have no further comments regarding this particular issue at this time."

The league year officially ends March 13, 2017, leaving contracted players light more than two months' pay.