Rugby: South African rugby franchise Southern Kings (Guinness Pro14) goes into liquidation

The South African franchise Southern Kings (Guinness Pro14) has gone into liquidation, a decision taken by its shareholders (Eastern Province Rugby Union, EPRU, and South African Rugby Union) due to "an accumulated deficit of R55m (€2.8m), and with zero income in prospect for the remainder of 2020," announced South African Rugby on 19/09/2020.

"The Southern Kings are insolvent, with significant debts and zero assets and it would have been reckless of the board to continue to trade. Its continuation would have required loans from the EPRU and loans additional to the R45m (€2.3m) that the company already owes to SA Rugby. In the absence of any rugby in 2020, and without any guarantees as to income prospects for 2021, it would have been financially irresponsible of the shareholders to have pumped in further funding," said Andre Rademan, chairman of the board at the franchise.

"Due to on-going travel restrictions enforced by the South African government against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is not foreseen that any cross-border Guinness Pro14 games involving South Africa…