RFL Chief Executive Abi Ekoku is confident that Featherstone Rovers will return to the Championship in 2027, despite being excluded from the competition this season.
New people having already come forward to express an interest in taking on the historic club, and he regards them as having a serious interest in reviving their fortunes.
“There have been interested parties wanting to take up the Featherstone membership,” said Ekoku,
“And yes, I would say that two of them are serious, for sure.
“But their first point of contact has to be the administrator so that they know exactly what they’re buying into and so that they know what the asset is that they are seeking to acquire.”
And Ekoku made it clear why the proposal put forward by previous Chairman Mark Campbell and his colleagues ultimately wasn’t acceptable to the RFL.
“In the assessment of the board, there was not enough separation between the old company, and the new company,” he said.
“I could go into specifics, but I don’t think that’s fair on individuals. But there is not enough separation between the old company operations and the new company operations.
“This is not about one club. It’s about the operational standards we accept as a game.
“That was the reason it couldn’t do it for us.
“The new company can offer to repay rugby debt and we were prepared to accept a payment plan for that. But you need to have a level of assurance around that payment plan.
“And it’s not just about accepting a rugby debt, you can’t secure that rugby debt simply against the future potential operations of the new company. There has to be an independent level of security that goes along with it.”
Campbell’s group had offered to sign a bond, but not one that was sufficient for the RFL.
“Not in an acceptable form. This wasn’t just about the bond; it’s also about the source of the bond,” added Ekoku.
“The source of the bond has to meet that fit and proper person integrity in ways that have been set by the sport.
“So that’s not against any individuals at all. The good thing about this is that we have a very neutral approach to it.
“You don’t know the individuals, you simply look at a new company set up and the old company set up and you ask is there enough separation between the two parties for you to have it, you know, for sure that that risk will be dealt with in a different way in the following season.”