Rugby league boss Peter V’landys accuses Dominic Perrottet of making excuses in stadium backflip – صحيفة الصوت

Rugby league boss Peter V’landys has accused the New South Wales Premier of using “human tragedy” to renege on a handshake agreement to revamp suburban stadiums.

V’landys is threatening to move the NRL Grand Final from Sydney as a result, saying the sport had been “strung along” by the state government for three years.

He says Premier Dominic Perrottet this year promised to upgrade local grounds across the city as part of a deal to keep the game’s showpiece in the Harbour City until 2042.

“We shook hands. We looked each other in the eyes and we did a deal,” V’landys told 2GB this morning.

“He said, ‘You don’t need to have it in the budget, I can do it outside the budget’. And he reneged.”

V’landys claims the deal included hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade ageing stadiums in Manly, Cronulla and Leichhardt.

Mr Perrottet says circumstances have changed and his top priority is supporting people impacted by the state’s recent flood crises.

“Sydney will always be the home of rugby league,” Mr Perrottet said, and it would be on V’landys to justify to supporters any plan to move the competition decider.

“The NSW government remains committed to upgrading suburban stadiums, however, following recent natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic, it is appropriate that further investment in stadia is staged,” he said.

“The government has just received the Floods Inquiry Report, which will likely require a significant cost to the taxpayer, and I note right now there are still 1,366 people without a home in NSW due to flooding.

“It should come as no surprise that my top priority is, therefore, supporting those devastated by the major floods across NSW.”

Mr Perrottet said the government had spent and committed $1.8 billion on sporting infrastructure for rugby league clubs, including centres of excellence and three new stadiums.

“The new state of the art Allianz Stadium will open next month, Parramatta has a new, modern stadium and there is a commitment to build a new Penrith stadium so that the Western City has a world-class sporting venue,” he said.

“Sydney will always be the home of rugby league and, if Peter V’landys wants to take the Grand Final away from its home, then he can explain that to the fans.”

However V’landys hit back, accusing Mr Perrottet of making excuses for backing out of the deal.

“He used other excuses back then [in negotiations] to reduce the amount he was going to spend on these community assets,” he said.

“They’ve left it right until two weeks before we have to sell tickets to the grand final.

“To use human tragedy to spin themselves out of it is unheralded in my eyes.”