The NRL has cleared the Gold Coast Titans of any alleged breach of the salary cap.
The Titans were accused of cheating the salary cap by asking builder Alex Simpson to construct a house for captain Scott Prince free of charge in order to keep the playmaker on the Gold
Coast.
The NRL salary cap auditor Ian Schubert investigated the claims and found there is no evidence that Prince expected the $400,000 house to be built free of charge.
"Despite the conviction with which the salary cap allegations have been made, there appears to be no binding agreement between Scott Prince and Simcorp (Simpson's company) to construct a house," NRL chief executive David Gallop said in a statement.
Gallop said the allegation had been made in the context of an on-going legal battle between Simcorp and the Titans over the completion of their Centre of Excellence.
"There appears to be no first hand evidence from anyone other than Mr Simpson to suggest that Scott Prince expected a house to be constructed free of charge," Gallop said.
"There has furthermore been no commencement of any construction work."
Gallop said there was also evidence backing the Titans claims of no impropriety, saying Prince had sold a Townsville property to cover any further construction costs as Simpson had now ceased work on the property.
He said Prince had also consulted and obtained quotes from other builders before Simpson commenced work.
"The NRL will investigate any salary cap issues that are brought to its attention and our salary cap team has examined the matters raised by Mr Simpson in considerable detail," Gallop said.
- AAP
