Departing Moffett fires broadside at European clubs

David Moffett

Welsh Rugby Union chief executive David Moffett believes rugby will be dead as a professional sport in the Celtic nations within five years, and that major problems are also brewing for England and France.

"If rugby keeps going the way it is, it will be played professionally in only five countries -- England, France, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia," said Moffett, who plans to move to New Zealand next year.

"English and French clubs will continue to rape and pillage the world's best players and in a few years we will discover they have no one left to play," the former New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive told the BBC.

Ill health has forced Moffett to quit his job from the end of December, but he thinks he knows the solution to the problems in the Northern Hemisphere.

"The biggest disappointment of my time here is the refusal to change the structure in Europe," he said.

"England and France are blocking it but they follow the flawed soccer model.

"The answer for us (in Wales) is central contracting," he said, where national unions contract players as opposed to the clubs, as happens in Europe.

"There is so much opposition (from the Welsh regions) and I simply don't know why.

"It's not something we're trying to do to help the WRU, it's a matter of doing what's best for the country with a small player base.

"Maybe we'll see it introduced when the so-called benefactors get sick of losing money. You look at the make up of the teams in the Heineken Cup from France and England -- how many local players do they have?

"English and French clubs are intent on doing what they think is right for them, they have no interest in the wider game at all because they think they can replicate soccer.

"Soccer is a fundamentally flawed model. How many soccer clubs make money?"

Moffett said club owners thought more games meant more money, but the most valuable tournament in the Northern Hemisphere was the Six Nations, which generated £45 million ($112 million) a year over seven weeks before gates and sponsorship.

"Less is more. The most valuable sports competition in the world is the NFL in American football -- they play 13 weeks."

Moffett's ideal set up would be a pan-European league, divided into conferences and organised by European Rugby Cup, who currently run the Heineken Cup and Challenge Cup.

- NZPA