Salford Red Devils chief operating officer Claire Bradbury has quit after alleging the owners suggested she ‘sleep with an individual at the RFL’ to ‘smooth over’ the club’s financial predicament.
The crisis-hit Super League outfit were taken over by a consortium led by businessman Dario Berta on the eve of the season.
However, the club’s struggles have continued on and off the pitch this season, with late wage payments, a player exodus and an upcoming winding-up petition for an unpaid tax bill of £500,000.
Now Bradbury – who joined Salford from rugby union side Sale Sharks last October – has resigned from her role and taken aim at the owners in an extraordinary LinkedIn post, in which she makes the claim of a misogynistic comment.
‘What was a dream job I’d worked so hard for and such a proud moment in my career, is one I can no longer do,’ wrote Bradbury, who said she had not been paid her wages for July.
‘Over recent months, the conditions under which I and my colleagues have been required to operate made it impossible for me to deliver my role to the standards I set for myself and for the club.
‘It’s important to share something more personal, as a senior woman in business. Misogynistic, inappropriate language from the ownership suggesting I sleep with an individual at the RFL to ‘smooth things over’ is not acceptable.
‘At the time I stayed quiet because I wanted the club to succeed. I’m disappointed in myself that I didn’t stand up to it then, so I’m voicing it now as it should be heard for the integrity and evolution of rugby league, and for all women who work in sport.’
An RFL spokesperson said: ‘Any language and suggestion of this kind is clearly offensive and unacceptable.’
Daily Mail Sport has contacted Bradbury and Salford for comment.
The Red Devils are currently bottom of Super League, with just two wins from 21 games, having lost 80-6 at Hull FC last Sunday.
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said on Thursday that he was ‘watching the situation very closely indeed’.
‘The question is, what can be done to change things?’ he added. ‘Obviously a consortium came in promising to clear the debts and put significant investment in. But that clearly hasn’t happened.’
RFL chief executive Tony Sutton said last week that while Salford’s financial woes were ‘damaging and draining for the sport’, the ‘only alternative’ to approving the takeover earlier this year was the ‘very probable and immediate demise of the club’.
Salford issued a statement on Monday insisting the club ‘will not close’.
