The future of the Melbourne Rebels continues to hang in the balance

THE future of the Melbourne Rebels continues to hang in the balance amid reports the ARU has tabled an offer to buy out the embattled club.

Sefanaia Naivalu celebrates a try for the Melbourne Rebels. Picture: Getty Images

THE future of the Melbourne Rebels continues to hang in the balance amid reports the Australian Rugby Union has tabled an offer to buy out the embattled club.

Andrew Cox, head of Imperium Group which bought the Rebels’ licence from the ARU in 2015, said the club had not been made an offer.

The Herald Sun is aware the Victorian Government is on high alert over the prospect of the Rebels folding.

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Cox said: “No comment. We have reserved all our rights with the ARU.”

It is understood the Rebels’ board met today to consider a range of legal options.

If the ARU offer materialises, and is accepted, the Rebels’ players will have to find new homes, ending the club’s chequered seven-year history.

Any ARU’s approach to effectively wind up the Rebels will devastate the sport’s relationship with the Victorian Government.

Melbourne Rebels players before their Round 10 match. Picture: Getty Images

If the Rebels fold, $14 million of contracts to stage major rugby events will be jeopardised.

There will also be contractual ramifications around the club’s contract with the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust.

The buyout reports come just weeks after Rebels management, on behalf of Cox, angrily insisted they would not slink quietly into the night in a strongly-worded statement aimed at the ARU.

Repeated legal threats have been levelled by Cox to the ARU, with the Rebels owner insisting the peak body had no legal right to “cut or chop” his club from the Super Rugby competition.

SANZAAR announced last month that three teams would be culled before next season — one being an Australian team — with the ARU revealing it was the Rebels and Force who were the two clubs in the gun.

Silvia Siliva in action for the Melbourne Rebels. Picture: Getty Images

On the field, the Rebels are enduring one of their worst seasons in the club’s history, having won just one of its nine games.

Tony McGahan’s side sits at the foot of the 18-team ladder.

McGahan conceded last Friday the ongoing speculation about the club’s future was placing great strain on his players and staff.

On Saturday it suffered a 47-10 home loss to the Lions from South Africa.

But Cox was aghast at ARU statements last month that indicated it “did not believe for many years in the five (Australian) team model and did not believe the model was financially viable”.

Unlike the calls to arms issued by Force players, coaches and administrators in Perth in recent times, the Rebels have remained relatively silent publicly on issues relating to its future.

The ARU owns the Force and is believed to have been made tempting offers by the WA Government to ensure the team survives.

Originally published as The future of the Melbourne Rebels continues to hang in the balance