Welcome to the Evening Standard’s live coverage of the breaking news story that Saracens have been hit with a heavy punishment following their apparent breach of Premiership salary cap regulations.
The four-time title winners have been docked 35 points and fined £5million after a seven-month investigation.
A statement from Premiership Rugby announced: "The sanction that has been imposed on Saracens Rugby Club by the panel is a total fine of £5,360,272.31 and a total deduction of 35 league points."
The penalty leaves the London club on -26 points in the early Premiership table.
Rugby Correspondent Will Macpherson provides the latest news below, and we’ll bring you all the key updates over the course of the day.
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Full story:
Saracens have been docked 35 points and fined more than £5million over breaches of salary cap rules.
The penalty leaves the London club on -26 points in the early Gallagher Premiership table.
A statement from Premiership Rugby announced: "The sanction that has been imposed on Saracens Rugby Club by the panel is a total fine of £5,360,272.31 and a total deduction of 35 league points."
The alleged breaches spanned the last three seasons but the points deduction will be applied in full this season.
The Premiership Rugby statement added: "The decision of the independent panel is that Saracens Rugby Club failed to disclose payments to players in each of the seasons 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.
"In addition, the club is found to have exceeded the ceiling for payments to senior players in each of the three seasons. The panel therefore upheld all of the charges.
"The salary cap regulations stipulate that a points deduction may be imposed in the current season (2019-20) only. The sanction has no bearing on any other domestic or European competition."
