THE proposed sale of Worcester Warriors appears to be no closer to completion, a day after co-owner Jason Whittingham stated an agreement would be confirmed.

Whittingham released a statement on Sunday afternoon, before Warriors' match with Exeter Chiefs, saying that Heads of Terms on a deal would be agreed in the next 48 hours with an interested party, but at the time of writing, almost 72 hours later, there was still no update.

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The statement also said that the interested party wanted Whittingham and Colin Goldring (current owners) to stay on through the transition of said deal.

But now there are contrasting reports suggesting the deal has hit a stumbling block due to the co-owners wanting to retain a small stake in the club.

The Worcester News has approached both owners but is yet to receive a response.

Matters off the field have overshadowed the Warriors for almost two months now and it shows no sign of letting up.

In the last 12 hours, the Worcester News has read a letter from an anonymous creditor of the rugby club (WRFC Trading Limited), questioning the way in which a Sport England loan was spent.

Sport England, which acted as a loan agent in a deal between Government Covid-19 funding and Premiership rugby clubs, is alleged to have “created a large liability on the balance sheet of WRFC Trading Limited” due to the “acquisition of the freehold” of the stadium by another company, MQ Property Co.

The correspondence also alleges that “Sport England approved the separation of the physical stadium [Sixways]” and its pitches and player car park from MQ Property Co to another company, Sixways Stadium Limited.

The allegations add that Sport England allowed this to happen “without confirming that the club, or its lawyers, had receipt of the monies”, and that the organisation explicitly asked the club’s stadium and associated income to be separated from the rugby club during a period of financial uncertainty.

Sport England made the following comment following an approach; “Sport England’s role in the Sport Survival Package (SSP) was to act as a loan agent for the finance provided by the government. Individual communication and ongoing involvement with those who received loans has been managed by government.

“We cannot comment on individual cases and due to legal obligations of confidentiality.

“There are however a number of inaccuracies in the letter. For example, it is suggested that Sport England allowed the stadium and land to be ‘stripped out’ from the Worcester Warriors club. That this is false as a matter of public record which shows that the stadium and surrounding land was transferred by WRFC Trading Limited to MQ Property Co Limited in 2018.”