Parramatta Eels: ‘Electronic fingerprints’ directly link some senior club representatives to third-party sponsorship deals
EXCLUSIVE Nick TabakoffEditor-at-LargeThe Daily Telegraph
THE NRL believes it has uncovered a smoking gun in the Eels salary cap investigation, after finding “electronic fingerprints” that directly link some senior Parramatta representatives to third-party sponsorship deals.
The Daily Telegraph understands investigators at the NRL’s Integrity Unit have privately revealed that electronic profiling of the club’s data has found evidence of *direct contact between the Eels representatives and third-party sponsors of Parramatta players in the past year.
The investigation has discovered that some club representatives cranked up direct communications with third parties in the past three months.
The Daily Telegraph first exposed the alleged salary cap breaches on March 9, and since then numerous reports by this newspaper have detailed what appear to be systemic breaches.
The electronic chatter between the club representatives and third parties reached a peak six weeks ago, at a time when the NRL was still examining previous, more minor alleged infringements of the salary cap by the club.
Third-party sponsorship agreements must be on an arm’s length basis from NRL clubs to ensure they do not become a way for teams to use them to pay players and undermine the salary cap.
It is a breach of the salary cap rules for a club to compensate a third-party provider in any way.
The Eels data is understood to have proven that repeated communications — including phone calls, text messages and emails — took place between senior Parramatta representatives and the third-party sponsors.
NRL Integrity Unit boss Nick Weeks dispensed a team of auditors to the club last week to investigate fixed computers, mobile phones, iPads and other electronic equipment to establish a digital profile of club officials.
The move has given the NRL a replica of the data created by those officials.
The NRL investigators are believed to have taken computers from the Eels’ headquarters in Parramatta for detailed examination.
The digital profiling allows information from various devices to be traced, even if it was deleted or hidden.
The auditors’ investigation appears to give the NRL the evidence it needs to prove the club has breached NRL salary cap rules.
Last night, an NRL spokesman said only that the investigation was “continuing”.
At the press conference to announce his elevation as the NRL’s chief executive, Todd Greenberg made it clear all types of penalties were on the table if the Eels were found to have breached salary cap rules.
“Points, fines are all possibilities, as it’s been seen in (the game’s recent) history,” he said.
The Daily Telegraph first exposed the alleged salary cap breaches on March 9, and since then numerous reports by this newspaper have detailed what appear to be systemic breaches.
Among the other revelations are a number of payments to former Parramatta players, including five transfers totalling $39,000 to former Eels star Jarryd Hayne after he left the club.
A sum of $27,500 was paid to former Eel Ben Smith, months after he retired, by a sporting goods manufacturer he had no contract with.
And there were separate third-party contracts involving former Eel Will Hopoate.
There is no suggestion Hayne, Smith or Hopoate, or any of the third parties, have done anything wrong.
PARRAMATTA’S SLIPPERY SLOPE
WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR:
1. Confidential boardroom documents show active discussion by Parramatta directors of the use of corporate boxes to reward third-party sponsors of its players in breach of the salary cap
2. They are also alleged to have discussed a pressing need to source promised third-party payments of $589,000, “plus two cars”
3. Five payments totalling $39,000 were made to former Eels star Jarryd Hayne after he left the club
4. $27,500 was paid to former Eel Ben Smith after he retired by a sporting goods manufacturer he had no contract with
5. The club is alleged to have used supremo invoices to cover up some third-party payments to players
6. The existence of separate third-party contracts involving Hayne and fellow former Eel Will Hopoate
