Super League team Salford Red Devils have been accused of trying to buy their £14m stadium using fraudulent bank documents.
The club, who share the Salford Community Stadium with Prem Rugby club Sale Sharks, have been embroiled in financial chaos for much of the season.
Isiosaia Kailahi and Curtiz Brown took charge of the club earlier this year but the outfit has been forced to fight off HMRC winding-up orders.
And reports in the Sun now suggest that the club “tried to convince the city’s council they had the money by using contested documents”.
The newspaper adds that the bank in question denied that proof of funds documents allegedly provided were not genuine.
Salford Red Devils in trouble?
The troubled Super League club saw talks over the purchase of the stadium torpedoed in May when Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett announced that he “formally ended all negotiations” with part of the consortium that recently purchased the Red Devils.
An Emirates NBD bank statement said: “The Bank is prohibited by federal UAE law from disclosing any information about customers.
“But, the Bank can confirm none of the documents enclosed with your email, which purport to originate from the Bank, are genuine.”
Brown told the Sun: “Every document we have supplied has been true and accurate when provided, including any financial statement.”
Salford Red Devils have won just three matches from their 25 Super League games thus far, and have conceded over 1000 points.
Places in the Super League rely on meeting a number of criteria set in collaboration with partner IMG, with the English top flight expanding from 12 to 14 teams from 2026.
London Broncos are one of the favourites to be promoted into the Super League given their recent investment interest from NRL legend Darren Lockyer.
The club will take on Huddersfield Giants this weekend in the penultimate round of action, before facing Wakefield Trinity in their final fixture.