Wasps have confirmed they will be able to play Championship rugby next season after exiting administration, while Worcester Warriors have been left in the wilderness as their application to return has been rejected by the RFU.
Both sides were removed from the Premiership after going into administration back in October.
The RFU board had been assessing the applications from bidders aiming to take over the two stricken clubs.
Wasps had debts totalling £95m when they went into administration, but an offer from a consortium including members of the club’s legends group was accepted at the end of October.
Their bid does not include the women’s team, which is a separate club and will continue to play as part of the amateur side Wasps FC.
HALO22 Limited, a company owned by Christopher Holland, recently completed the purchase of the intellectual property, history and memorabilia of Wasps RFC – a transaction that saw the club exit administration.
Andy Scott, a former CEO of 188Bet and Interim CEO of the Wasps Legends Charitable Foundation, has been appointed as CEO, and will be supported by former players including Kenny Logan and Peter Scrivener, as well as a new main board of senior level executives.
With the formal transfer of assets complete, the new management group submitted a long-term business plan and were approved under the RFU’s fit and proper person’s test.
As part of proposals accepted by the sport’s governing body, a ground share agreement has been reached with a Midlands venue – which will be announced in the near future – to host its home games.
Scott said: “We are proud and delighted to secure the future of this great club. Wasps is a famous and highly regarded name in the history of English and European rugby and while this is a new venture and a fresh start, it is fundamentally built on the same values that brought the club success and respect in its heyday.”
Worcester, whose debts totalled more than £30m when they went under, have been the subject of a bid from former Warriors chief executive Jim O’Toole and his Atlas consortium.
Atlas accused the RFU of trying to impose “onerous operational conditions” on the group as they negotiate a takeover with administrators Begbies Traynor.
The RFU said they had “put forward a number of conditions” for the prospective buyers to meet, including commitments not to dispose of land around Sixways stadium and the “swift” payment of rugby creditors.
“The bidders, selected by the administrators of the insolvent WRFC Trading Limited, have informed us that they are not prepared to meet these conditions, and therefore the RFU board was unable to approve their application,” an RFU statement read.
The decision may open the door for Steve Diamond’s bid to take over the club, a move which is backed by Adam Hewitt.
