Worcester Warriors allowed to play in Premiership after paying wages to players, coaches and staff
Worcester Warriors will now play in the Premiership Rugby after it was confirmed its players, coaches and staff have been paid.
The payrolls started to be distributed on Friday (September 2) after an electric banking issue caused further delays in issuing August salaries.
All salaries are now thought to have been paid.
Playing Warriors have been paid in full, while non-playing staff have been paid 65% of their expected salaries.
In a statement to staff, co-owners Jason Whittingham and Colin Goldrin apologised for the situation.
Speaking on Friday (September 3), they said: "This situation must be stressful for you all, we are sorry we are in this boat and we’ve done everything we can do to avoid it, all we can do now is deal with what’s in front of us."
"Regarding the payroll situation, the bank have finally confirmed the issue has been resolved and we can process the rest of the player and staff salary payments, some having already gone through."
They added: "There are over 150 payments and each one takes around 10 minutes, the bank are having to constantly watch and approve each one to prevent the blocking IT issue that keeps recurring."
"Those payments have already started going through but we can’t guarantee every payment will clear in your account tonight (Friday), but they are finally going out our side."
"Again we are sorry for the delays on getting this payment to you, we know how much strain this puts on you all and we haven’t stopped trying to resolve it."
As a result of paying the salaries, Premiership Rugby said the club would be able to participate in the new season.
A Premiership Rugby spokesperson said: "The RFU and Premiership Rugby have been in regular dialogue with the RPA, DCMS and Worcester Warriors, and the Premiership clubs since a winding up petition was filed by HMRC."
"As a result of assurances provided on payment of salaries and insurance cover they are able to participate in Premiership Rugby."
"We will continue to work together to provide the Worcester Warriors owners with the best opportunity for developing their future sustainability plans."
Worcester Warriors will begin the new season with an away match to London Irish on Saturday (10 September).