The Keighley Cougars have today expressed deep disappointment following the Rugby Football League’s decision to award the club zero points in the 2025 IMG grading process — a result of a submission being less than 24 hours late.

This situation arose after the recent departure of the previous club’s General Manager, and as result, the club was unaware that essential documents had not been submitted.

Once the issue was identified, Managing Director Kaue Garcia acted immediately, working tirelessly to prepare and submit all the required data. Despite explaining the exceptional circumstances to the RFL, the governing body confirmed that no flexibility would be applied and that the club’s score would remain zero.

“This decision feels very retaliatory and targeted at us — a club that has been openly vocal in questioning IMG and the direction of the sport. It’s especially disappointing given the RFL’s past approach, where they worked with both Whitehaven and Batley in 2024 and allowed them to submit their data past the deadline, issuing provisional scores. This inconsistency only reinforces our feeling that we have been unfairly treated.”

Garcia added that during discussions, the club referenced the precedent set in 2024 when Batley Bulldogs submitted their grading data seven days after the deadline, which was still accepted by the RFL.

“After speaking with Batley Bulldog’s owner, Kevin Nicholas, he expressed surprise at how harshly we’ve been treated as they submitted their data one week later than the deadline in 2024 due to unforeseen circumstances,” Garcia said.

Despite all this and reminding this to the RFL’s Director of Insight, who refused to understand our circumstances, and the inconsistent treatment to ourselves, our appeal was rejected outright.

This decision is particularly disheartening for the Keighley Cougars, who were recognised as the most improved club in the 2024 IMG rankings, climbing from 30th to 19th place

— a remarkable testament to the club’s progress and professionalism.

The timing of the ruling also raises further concerns, as it was given just a few days after Keighley Cougars participated in a BBC Radio Leeds interview, where club representatives once again raised concerns about the sport’s governance.

“We can’t help but feel that this is a targeted attempt to silence and punish us,” said Garcia. “The RFL frequently promotes collaboration and transparency with its member clubs — but this decision does the exact opposite. It is punitive, inconsistent, and goes against the spirit of fair play.”

The Keighley Cougars remain committed to transparency, accountability, and the continued development of the sport, despite this attempt of punishing us.

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