Deadlock as Rotherham are denied promotion again

The nightmare continues, ad nauseam. Less than 48 hours before the end of the regular season, with Bath, the most successful side in the history of the domestic game, three points adrift at the foot of the table and teetering on the precipice of relegation, Rotherham, the National League One champions, have had their promotion to the Premiership put on hold after a split between the Rugby Football Union and representatives of the top-flight clubs.

As things stand, no one knows what the hell is happening with regards to the 2003-04 campaign.

Graeme Cattermole, the chairman of the RFU and the leader of the union's five-man delegation on the board of England Rugby Ltd, was left flabbergasted by the Premiership clubs' intransigence.

"On behalf of the RFU members and, I am sure, the vast majority of the game in England, I am very disappointed that the five voting Premier Rugby representatives felt unable to support Rotherham's unconditional entry to the Zurich Premiership," he said. "Unlike last year, Rotherham have, in our view, clearly met the entry criteria. The five RFU members voted unanimously for promotion to be granted."

Last night's developments amounted to a serious embarrassment for Francis Baron, the RFU's chief executive, who had maintained a season-long dialogue with Rotherham and other leading promotion candidates designed to prevent a repeat of last year's public-relations catastrophe, when the Yorkshire club were blocked from joining the Premiership because of concerns over ground facilities. This season, they have played their rugby at Millmoor, the home of Rotherham's professional football team, and were convinced the venue would pass muster.

They were knocked back by a Premiership delegation led by Charles Jillings, of Harlequins. The other votes against Rotherham were cast by Peter Wheeler, the Leicester chief executive, Howard Thomas, the chief executive of Premier Rugby, Damian Hopley, of the Professional Rugby Players' Association, and, rather unfortunately, Ed Goodall, a director of Bath, who stand to gain most from the absence of promotion. Bath must beat Newcastle in their final game tomorrow to stand any chance of moving off the bottom of the table.

Cattermole said the ERL board considered a report from independent auditors into Rotherham's current standing in relation to entry criteria. The RFU delegation's view that the basic standards had been achieved was described as "premature" by the Premiership contingent, who suggested Rotherham should be granted promotion subject to further clarification on primacy of tenure at Millmoor. This was not acceptable to the union, and the vote was deadlocked at five-all. Another meeting – the third on this specific issue – will be convened as soon as possible.

Not for the first time in the so-called professional era, the promotion-relegation question is undermining a club game that has otherwise gone from strength to strength. It beggars belief that, a day before the final round of Premiership matches, there is no definitive call on whether Bath, Bristol, London Irish or Saracens – the four sides at risk – will go down.

There again, there is no definitive word on much else, either. A five-month inquiry into an alleged Premiership slush fund, set up to buy off Rotherham last season, has yet to be completed. The RFU is also waiting for an Office of Fair Trading investigation into the Premiership's entry criteria.