Worcester’s home game against Exeter in doubt over unpaid wages and bills

Worcester’s home fixture against Exeter on Sunday is in serious doubt over unpaid wages to staff and suppliers bills while the owners admitted on Wednesday night the sale of the club had not been completed.

The Warriors are due to stage their first home match of the season against Exeter on Sunday but suppliers, who are required to run a matchday at Sixways, had set a deadline of 5pm on Wednesday to be paid. Senior figures at the club had separately called for the outstanding salaries of staff members - some of whom were yet to receive any of August’s wages - to be paid first.

It is understood the 5pm deadline came and went and if Worcester are unable to provide those payments in time to stage Sunday’s match and have to forfeit, Exeter would be awarded five points. The club’s owners Jason Whittingham and Colin Goldring announced on Tuesday that they had agreed the terms of a sale, giving rise to optimism over the club’s short and long term future, but revealed the deal remains in the hands of legal representatives from both sides.

Meanwhile, the club’s director of rugby Steve Diamond said: “If people aren’t paid, and suppliers aren’t paid, then I don’t think, logistically, the game can go on. Let’s hope it’s not another false dawn. These people [buyers] have got to deliver and I think they’re in the last throes of that. If they’re not then I probably won’t be sat in front of you again. That’s the reality of it. If it turns out to be a cock-and-bull story then it’ll be out in the wash this weekend because we won’t be playing.”

On Tuesday, Whittingham and Goldring said they were working closely with the buyers, who remain unidentified, to secure an “immediate deposit” to cover the operational costs required to stage the