Salford have dropped to 10th in the Super League table after receiving a points penalty for defaulting on debts accrued under previous ownership.
The club came close to collapse in 2013 before being rescued by Marwan Koukash and at that time, he inherited a Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA) that had been made with existing creditors, setting out terms for a loan to be paid back to the council over a 25-year period.
It was on this basis that the RFL board approved the takeover of the club and membership of Super League, but a clause was inserted that stated that if the CVA were to fail the club "would be deducted six points in the playing season in which the default occurs".
Although Koukash has subsequently left the club, handing ownership over to a community-based consortium, the CVA has remained in place, though payments were frozen for three years in 2017.
The Red Devils are believed to have taken a decision to remove debt acquired by the former club in order to create new investment opportunities and allowed the CVA to fail.
The penalty has been implemented with immediate effect, but because the 2020 Betfred Super League season is being determined on a win percentage basis, Salford have been deducted three wins and have dropped to 10th in the table.
Following Toronto Wolfpack's withdrawal from the competition earlier in the year, there will be no relegation from the top flight this season and Ian Watson's side will remain in Super League next season regardless of results in the final round of fixtures.
The RFL rules around insolvency were revised in 2015, doubling the sporting sanction for such an event to 12 points - apart from in exceptional circumstances - but this only applies to insolvency events since that date.
In this case, the framework applicable in 2013 has been applied, resulting in the equivalent of a six-point deduction. Had it been applied in 2013, the Red Devils would have finished bottom of Super League, but would not have been relegated as the competition at that time operated on a licensing basis, with no promotion or relegation.
M.E.N. Sport understands that the CVA repayments were set to increase ahead of next season, heightening the financial burden on the club at a time when it remains unclear whether spectators will be able to attend from the start of the next campaign, significantly damaging revenue opportunities for teams across Super Leauge.
Clubs will also receive a much smaller broadcast payment next year as Sky Sports takes a rebate for matches that could not be fulfilled in 2020 - a situation further exacerbated by the decision to end the regular season early and move directly to an extended playoff series.
Friday's match with Wakefield will therefore be Salford's final fixture of 2020. A win and defeat for Huddersfield against Wigan would have left the Red Devils in seventh position and on standby to compete in the playoffs should a team be forced to drop out because of a Covid-19 outbreak, but that will no longer be the case.
