Scotland's cash strapped top flight clubs are seeking urgent answers from Holyrood as fears grow they won’t be saved by a proposed crisis loan.
Record Sport understands he top 12 convened an online conference call last week after it was announced they will not be in line for any government grants to help them scrape through to the end of the season.
Instead, they’ve been offered access to a £20m pot of funds in the shape of loans, repayable over a six-year period at a interest rate of around 2 per cent.
And now some worried club bosses are asking for more details amid concern that they might struggle to afford the monthly repayments - especially if they drop out of the Premiership at any point in the next six seasons.
The emergency funding was promised earlier this month as part of a £55m rescue package
for sport across the whole of the country.
But while Scottish rugby benefited from £15m in grant money which does not have to be paid back, only £10m was set aside on similar terms for football. Those hand-outs have already been shared around the lower three tiers of the game but the top flight clubs are still waiting.
They have asked newly appointed minister for sport
Mairi Gougeon to clarify a number of key issues before deciding if whether or not the cash that’s been ring-fenced to save them might end up crippling them.
It’s expected that those answers will arrive from the capital before the end of the week, after which another crisis meeting of all top flight clubs will be called and one concerned club boss told us: “There are some clubs that budget for the worst case scenario of relegation. Those are the clubs with the biggest concerns.
“Until they know more about the repayments they can’t commit to taking on a loan which they might ultimately be unable to pay back.
“That’s why we have asked the government for greater clarity.”
.png?w=600)
