Leeds Rhinos chief executive Gary Hetherington has insisted that it is “unacceptable” to be found to be cheating the salary cap – and says it is nothing other than “pure cheating”.
Speaking to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Hetherington would not be drawn on the punishment handed out to Salford Red Devils on Monday after they were found guilty of a breach, but insisted that it is simply not right to try and bend the rules regarding the cap.
He said that the players, coaches and fans are the ones who have been harshly done to in this particular situation, and says clear breaches of the cap is cheating, plan and simple.
“I think it is unacceptable for any club to be breaching the salary cap, particularly so blatantly as appears to be this case,” Hetherington said.
“There’s been examples when it has been ambiguous or might have been down to an anomaly or lack of understanding, but that doesn’t appear to be this case.
“It is a clear breach and nothing other than pure cheating. That is totally unacceptable. It is never acceptable for administrators to be cheating and the real victims in all this are the Salford fans, players and coaching staff.”