Every offseason I promise myself I won't get into this!
Quote ="SmokeyTA"So Koukash could simply sign Sonny Bill and offer him a million pounds bonus if he wins the best player called Sonny Bull Williams of the year award.
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Yep. As has been pointed out, there have been rumblings that clauses like this are the starting point of the fallout between Koukash and other players. As I said, it all depends whether it's contracted, wink winked or totally spontaneous. if it's contracted, the rfl can choose to let it slide on numerous of the rulings mentioned, if its a wink wink it will almost definitely get pulled up due to obligation of reporting, and if it's totally spontaneous the rules aren't covering it. after the wigan "breaking the spirit of the cap" fiasco, the rfl put rules in place to allow them to pick and choose what they do and don't like.
Quote ="SmokeyTA"
I think you have misread the rules. There is a prize awarded for mom or for Man of Steel and similar awards that do have a value. For instance previously Tissot would provide a watch for the man of the match. Without the exemption that award would count on the SC even though it wasn't provided by the club to the player.
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You of all people must know ambiguity in a contract favours the side signing. In this case, the clubs. No where does it state it can't be club individual awards, or club mom awards. Given how incredibly easy it would be to reword to say RFL individual awards and broadcasters MoM awards, one cannot simply assume that's what it means, now I'm more than happy to accept this may be a misinterpretation, but there's no misreading going on.
Quote ="SmokeyTA"
Any payment to a player in relation to his playing of the game by any party related to the game is admissible.
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Nope. There are many payments a club can make to a player that are cap exempt. The money paid to Morley and Ali for their appearance in the game vs NZ for example has no bearing on Leeds cap. The cap is a notional value, it in no way relates to how much a player actually get paid.
Quote ="SmokeyTA"
This is besides the point anyway as we have already been told that this isn't the case and this is a gift from Koukash to evalds and Koukash's defence is this is nothing to do with Salford Red Devils. Which is how I have always said the cap can be broken. The RFL does not and cannot have the reach it needs to properly defend such a cap.'"
Do we have to go here again? It's really very simple. The rfl at any time can request access to a players hmrc information. If they refuse this, they're revoking the agreed terms of their players contract with the rfl, making it void. Meaning the player can't play any more, meaning how much they're being paid by the club completely ignorable in terms of the cap.
Unless the car was given without hmrc's knowledge, the rfl can go and find out whatever they want about it. This is why offshore payment policy loopholes were closed.
since Koukash has "confirmed" it was a gift, the onus will be on Koukash to prove it had nothing to do with his role as director at the club, nor it had anything to do with the player being an employee of the club (nigh on impossible.) If that can't be proven, then the rfl will count it in a cap calculation, to what extent, with what exemptions applying, depending on who owns the car, if it's rented etc.