Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney has survived a vote of no confidence held at a special general meeting, where he faced a call for his dismissal by the board.
English rugby’s community game had gathered enough support by January to trigger a special general meeting, where a resolution was tabled calling for Sweeney to be sacked by the board.
The RFU’s first SGM in 20 years took place at Twickenham on Thursday, where the motion to remove Sweeney got 206 votes, with 466 voting against his departure and 36 abstaining.
The RFU’s executives were not obligated to act if the motion was passed, although Sweeney’s position would have been significantly weakened had the vote gone against him.
“This is not a time to argue, but to pull together,” interim chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said. “The time for division is past. Now is the time to unite behind an opportunity to renew English rugby.
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Sweeney faced a vote of no confidence that could have left the Rugby Football Union chief executive fighting for his Twickenham future
“Let us put behind this period of in-fighting and modernise the union. Let’s get back to focusing on the many positives in our game.”
The SGM featured a mixture of RFU members attending and others taking part virtually. Of the total RFU membership of around 1,300, 672 cast votes.
Beaumont described the outcome of the vote as “emphatic”.
More to follow…
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