Castleford to sue Solomona and Sale

Castleford Tigers have issued an angry statement in response to the news that their former winger Denny Solomona has signed for rugby union club Sale Sharks.

Steve Gill, the Tigers’ chief executive officer, stressed his and his club’s disappointment with the situation, on an ethical and moral level, as much as anything.

“We have lost a quality player who scored 42 tries last season and broke the Super League try scoring record in the 2016 season,” he said.

“As a club we always try our best to look after our players. We have strong values of honesty and integrity and that’s what we endeavour to instil into all of our players and staff.

“If the shoe was on the other foot and Solomona had suffered a career ending injury in the last match of the season there would have been an absolute obligation on us to honour our contractual obligations.

“We look after our players and fully expect our players to respect their contractual commitments. Sadly and with regret Solomona has done the polar opposite and effectively and unilaterally walked away from the remaining two years on his contract.

“In August this year we made it very clear to Solomona and to Sale Sharks that there was an unbreakable contract in place until the end of season 2018 with no basis whatsoever for either ourselves or Solomona to depart from each other’s mutual obligations.

“The idea of losing the player was not welcomed by us and we have repeatedly told Sale Sharks that it would be impermissible for them to talk to Solomona let alone sign him.

“Clear unequivocal warnings have clearly been disregarded.”

The Tigers are also set to sue both Solomona and Sale Sharks over the situation.

“Unfortunately we are not privy to what has happened over the last three months between Solomona and his agent but on the back of losing the player in the circumstances described and now announced by Sale Sharks, we confirm that today we have issued Proceedings out of the High Court in Leeds for damages against Denny Solomona for breach of contract (dated 20 November 2015) and for damages including exemplary damages against Sale Sharks Ltd and Andrew Clarke (Solomona’s agent) for inducing breach of the said contract.

“The proceedings have been issued as a last resort having failed over the last couple of weeks to try and resolve matters without the formality of court proceedings.

“We have confidence that the legal system will bring out all of the facts and the truth.

“We are fighting this not just for Castleford Tigers but also for the integrity of all sports including of course rugby union clubs.

“Our belief is that all contracts are sacrosanct in professional and amateur sports.”