Moffat Mungazi
Twickenham could not secure three nights with Beyonce this summer because of council restrictions, leading the RFU to claim that they may relocate unless a solution is found
Rugby chief Bill Sweeney has laid his cards down, down, down by threatening that England could leave Twickenham over a licensing row with the local council that saw the venue miss out on hosting three Beyonce concerts.
The RFU has previously committed to a £663m plan to redevelop the arena, which is now known as Allianz Stadium for sponsorship reasons.
England have played at Twickenham since 1909 but Sweeney is insistent that the venue is not irreplaceable following the cost of missing out on staging Beyonce to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this summer.
But Sweeney, who faces a vote of no confidence next week, has told the Business of Sport podcast that the plans to revamp Twickenham cannot be justified if Richmond Borough do not relax their licensing regulations.
“We’ve had the Rolling Stones, and we could have had Beyonce, but she wanted three nights, and we’re only allowed two nights consecutively,” Sweeney said.
“We’re having a conversation with Richmond Borough, saying look if we’re going invest £600m into the Allianz and that’s going to bring x amount of revenue…If we’re going do that, you’re going to have to work with us in terms of an increase of the number of events we can stage in order to monetise the stadium.
“And there’s plenty of places that would love to have us there. Birmingham, Milton Keynes would love to have us there.
“It would be a tough call for us, it would be very difficult. I don’t know how we would justify the investment in the stadium if we can’t get an increase in the event licenses.”
The RFU previously had a conversation with the FA about a share of Wembley but discussions did not advance far.
And Sweeney has previously insisted that other areas in the country, including Birmingham, would be more receptive to becoming rugby union’s headquarters.
Sweeney previously said: “We looked at a range of different options.
There was the merger with Wembley, which was a conversation, and there was a move somewhere else to a greenfield site which might have had better access for the whole of the country.
It was in the Birmingham area and they were quite keen to work with us.
“All of the numbers at the end of the day led to remaining at Twickenham and redeveloping the stadium here.
That was partly to do with the hospitality market in London from a commercial point of view.
“Plus there was the traditional piece, which couldn’t be discounted, in terms of the home of rugby being based in Twickenham.” — mirrorsport
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