Rugby League Coaching Manuals

It means instant relegation for the Cumbrian club and a reprieve for Dewsbury while an RFL tribunal in Leeds also banned Barrow chairman Des Johnston from any involvement in rugby league for the next eight years.

Barrow and Johnston were found guilty of systemic breaches of operational rules over a four-year period following a lengthy investigation by the RFL's compliance department.

In addition to breaching the salary cap, the club failed to record in player contracts all financial benefits or benefits in kind.

Wood said: "Whilst it is unfortunate that Barrow sought to cheat in the way they did over such a sustained period of time and went to such lengths to hide this behaviour, this action demonstrates that the investigative systems and checks we have in place do work.

"All the clubs are subjected to regular audits and we conduct frequent interviews with administrators and players to ensure the rules are applied.

"It became clear during our investigation of Barrow that some aspects of their business activity were remiss and we are still evaluating some of the information that was provided to us during that inquiry.

"The sanctions handed down by the tribunal are entirely fair and should act as a deterrent to any club or individual who might consider breaching the rules.

"It is a fundamental role of the RFL to uphold the rules and regulations of the competitions that are devised in full consultation and agreement with the clubs and we remain steadfast in our commitment to protecting the integrity of all competitions and the sport itself."

The investigation included recent allegations made by former player Ned Catic, principally against Johnston.

Barrow were docked six points in July for breaching the salary-cap regulations in 2010, which ended their play-off hopes for this year, and had a further six-point deduction suspended until the end of 2012.