LEIGH LEOPARDS owner Derek Beaumont has insisted London Broncos should not be promoted to Super League for next season “without due process”.

The club gradings released on Thursday saw the current Super League sides all ranked in the top 14, securing their places for another year.

But Championship winners London could yet join them, with the NRL said to be making their elevation to the top division a condition of investment into the European competition.

Super League clubs held an online meeting on Friday to discuss the issue but could not come to a resolution.

As well as highlighting the practical scheduling impacts of adding another team, which are believed to have made some existing clubs nervy about the proposition, Beaumont also implied it would not be fair – or potentially even legal – to simply promote London.

Gradings are currently the measure used to determine who plays in Super League, and while last year two additional clubs were added after that process – having already voted for expansion from twelve clubs – with the teams chosen by an independent panel, no such process has been proposed this time around.

To further complicate matters, London were not even the highest Championship club in the grading table, with that honour going to Barrow Raiders.

“It is not right to just put London in Super League,” said Beaumont.

“The rules at the start of the year were that IMG (club) grading determines Super League.

“Therefore if clubs were to agree to expand then it would need to be Barrow or there is risk of legal consequences.

“If the expansion is not at full funding and Barrow didn’t want to enter then it’s not simply next team down – it would need to be an application process as per the precedent set the previous year to increase to 14 teams.

“Therefore I will not vote to add London to Super League without due process and most certainly not because someone insists upon it without substance.”

Beaumont added that he could not currently support the partnership being proposed by the NRL, claiming their offer was “the most expensive loan with the worst conditions attached that the sport could ever obtain”.

He said: “We are being asked to support this with no business plan or presentation, being told that these crucial elements will be decided within the first six-to-twelve months of the deal when they will have already been handed control.

“Unfortunately many (clubs) will vote in favour because they see the sugar shot of a short-term increase in funding.”