RFU takes action at High Court against former England international - Ruck

RFU takes action at High Court against former England international

The Rugby Football Union has taken action in the High Court against former England international Victor Ubogu and VU Ltd – his hospitality company.

The RFU has obtained a permanent injunction (by way of a Court Order) which prevents Mr Ubogu and VU Ltd from operating unofficial ticketed hospitality for England matches played at Twickenham Stadium in the future.

Ubogu and VU Ltd have agreed to pay damages for breaching the RFU’s ticketing terms and conditions – and breaching a previous undertaking by VU Ltd to cease and desist this activity. The damages will be reinvested into the sport and as part of the settlement they have also agreed to pay a significant part of the RFU’s legal costs.

“We are very clear about our ticketing terms and conditions and they are explicitly stated on every ticket,” said RFU chief executive Steve Brown. “We need to be quite firm about that.

“If someone chooses to breach the terms and conditions then we need to take action as we are trying to protect revenue and investment into the game.”

The terms of the court injunction require Mr Ubogu and VU Ltd to cease offering Twickenham tickets as part of unofficial matchday hospitality packages, and not to deal with tickets in breach of the RFU’s ticketing terms  and conditions.

Also, as part of the settlement, Mr Ubogu and VU Ltd have agreed to co-operate with the RFU and provide details of the source of the Twickenham tickets which were used by them as part of their unofficial matchday hospitality packages.

The RFU ticketing terms and conditions forbid ticket holders to from selling tickets to unofficial hospitality providers, selling tickets as part of hospitality packages, or to selling tickets at above face value.  The RFU takes breaches of its ticketing terms and conditions seriously and will reserves the right to take action against anyone who breaches them.