The Sydney Daily Telegraph is reporting that the Cronulla Sharks may be hit with a salary cap breach for undeclared sponsorship payments made to players by the clubs former security provider in 2011 and 2012.
The breach may be as high as $200,000 and would be a huge blow for the club as it struggles through the ASADA investigation.
The Sharks came into the 2013 season with most people tipping them to be one of the top teams in the competition. Since then we have seen a major investigation held into the alleged use of performance enhancing drugs, a change of board (including the loss of two Chairmen) and talk that sponsors want nothing to do with the club as it battles through all of these issues.
On the field the Sharks have had to deal with injuries, talk that star players would leave, talk that players would be suspended for up to two years, and yet the club still finds itself sitting in 6th position on the NRL ladder.
Considering that this is pretty much the nightmare season that no club would ever wish to have, the Sharks are doing pretty well!
A salary cap breach and fine would be a bitter blow to the club though. Having to pay a fine to the NRL for breaking the salary cap rules would be all the more difficult when you consider all of the legal fee’s the club will have been paying in recent months.
There’s only so much any one clubs can take, and I wonder if we might get to September and find the Sharks are just completely spent.
Hopefully the club has a change in fortune some time soon.
