No cash to pay EP Rugby referees

Cape Town - The financially stricken Eastern Province Rugby Union is also not able to pay fees for its club referees.

The union’s financial woes have been well-documented in the last while, with SA Rugby forced to step in after the EPRU was unable to pay players’ salaries.

And now it appears the referees are suffering the same plight.

Jacques Hugo, chairperson of the Eastern Province Referees Association, confirmed to Netwerk24 that his referees last received payment by the EPRU in August last year.

“At present, it is costing referees money to officiate in games,” said Hugo.

“We can only hope that the money crisis at the union gets resolved soon, otherwise I don’t know where things will end.”

According to Hugo, the EPRU already owes its referees more than R100 000.

To make matters worse, a referee reportedly only earns between R75 and R100 a game.

“If the referee has to travel to get to officiate in a game, he should at least get travel allowances,” said Hugo.