London Welsh takeover is investigated by RFU

THE Rugby Football Union has revealed it is investigating the authenticity of documents provided by Red Dragon Rugby Limited when they completed a takeover of London Welsh.

The Championship club have chosen to rescind their share transfer agreement with Red Dragon Rugby Limited and return to their previous ownership structure. The Exiles went into administration last summer and were handed a five-point penalty by the RFU before Red Dragon Rugby came in to secure the future of the club.

One of the conditions the new owners had to meet before taking control of the Old Deer Park side was that they had to have the funds to support the club for two years.

However, the head of the consortium, Neil Hollinshead, has recently faced personal bankruptcy court proceedings, casting the future of the club into doubt.

London Welsh will now start the hunt for new potential investors.

RFU chief executive Francis Baron said: "We share London Welsh's concerns over some of the documents presented to the club, the administrators, and to the RFU, during the negotiations over the transfer of the club's shares to Red Dragon Rugby Limited.

"It is clear that all parties relied on what appeared to be genuine documents in their due diligence processes. The RFU will co-operate fully with the club's lawyer's further investigations.

"In addition, the RFU has already commenced its own investigation into the authenticity of documents supplied by Red Dragon Rugby Limited and whether Red Dragon Rugby Limited and their officers have brought the game and the RFU into disrepute under Rule 5.12. We will confirm more details on this soon."