Aviva Premiership
Cueto told to back up salary cap claims
ESPN Staff
October 5, 2013
Mark Cueto has started the season in impressive form © PA Photos
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Saracens CEO Edward Griffiths has called on Sale winger Mark Cueto to back up his assertions that some teams are breaking the salary cap.

Cueto said earlier this week in his view it is "blatantly obvious" some teams are finding a way around the salary cap - a cap which stands at £4.26m with teams allowed one player to be outside of those constraints.

The former England winger also said, in his interview with the Telegraph, that "there's no way you can tell me that certain clubs in the Premiership are sticking to the salary cap".

Saracens are currently sitting pretty at the top of the Aviva Premiership with 19 points from a possible 20 and possess a squad with impressive depth. There have been accusations of salary breaches in the past - Brian Smith said in January "some teams are cheating the salary cap" - but they have seldom come from players.

And Griffiths has suggested that although his team are doing well, it does not mean they are cheating the system to achieve that success.

"The tall poppies catch most wind in life but Premier Rugby look at our books as they do with all the other clubs in the Premiership to ensure everything is in order," Griffiths told the London Evening Standard. "The system is centrally monitored and administered and if Mark Cueto wants to assist in the administration of the cap then he should offer his services to PRL. Success breeds interest in your club.

"The aim of the agreed salary cap is to create a competitive league and that is what we have in England. If we go to London Irish, Sale or Newcastle, the result is not a foregone conclusion and we came close to losing to London Welsh last season."

Premiership Rugby, the body in charge of England's top flight, have contacted Cueto and will be asking him to present evidence. And while some have come out questioning Cueto's stance, his words have already received support from within the game with Gloucester chairman Ryan Walkinshaw taking to Twitter to praise the winger.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd
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