MPs have urged the Government to intervene into the growing crisis engulfing the Rugby Football Union with its oversight of the sport being described as a “huge red flag”.

Last week the RFU was forced to confirm that it will hold a special general meeting following the Six Nations which will determine the fate of chief executive Bill Sweeney after a grass-roots rebellion.

The revolt began in late November after the RFU announced that Sweeney was paid £1.1 million, including a £358,000 long-term incentive plan (LTIP) bonus, while five other executive directors shared close to £1 million amid 42 redundancies and the RFU’s record loss to reserves of £42 million. The RFU maintains it is still in a “strong financial position”, but Louie French, the shadow sports minister, said that the Government cannot ignore the growing controversy at Twickenham.

“Fans are rightly angry at Rugby Football Union’s bosses’ sky-high bonuses while the Premiership makes enormous losses,” French told Sky News. “While the RFU is independent, the Government cannot watch from the sidelines as rugby union falls into crisis. That’s why I am pressing the Government to act now before it’s too late. Ministers ought to be engaging with the sport to find a way to stabilise its finances and secure rugby union’s future.”

Rob Sigley, the head of the Community Clubs Union, which represents dozens of grass-roots clubs who are unhappy with the RFU, told Sky News rugby is “dying”.

The revolt has already claimed the scalp of chair Tom Ilube, who stood down before Christmas, citing how “recent events have become a distraction from the game”, with Bill Beaumont, the former England captain and World Rugby chair, replacing him on an interim basis. Beaumont has undertaken to visit clubs up and down the country together with Sweeney and Rob Udwin in an attempt to calm the seething anger in the grass-roots game, starting at Stafford Rugby Club on January 28. Rebels have noted that many of the dates on the tour are weekdays in the daytime that will preclude many members from attending.

Even before the bonuses scandal, there was widespread discontent over the RFU’s botched handling of lowering the tackle height as well as at the dire state of club finances, with four professional clubs going into insolvency, and the national men’s team results. Dr Luke Evans, a Conservative MP, stated that rugby’s finances seem more precarious than football’s – for which the Government is looking to bring in new legislation.

“There is growing concern about the state of the game and mixed messages coming from the RFU,” Dr Evans told Sky News. “The clear discontent from clubs with regard to the governance of the sport is a huge red flag, a dark cloud building over the game.

“[The Government] do not intend to conduct a review into the finances or governance of rugby union at this time. So this begs the question; does the Government have confidence in the RFU leadership?”

Edward Morello, the Liberal Democrat MP for West Dorset, also stated that “the Government should look very closely at how British taxpayers’ money is being spent by the RFU”.

In a statement, the RFU said: “The RFU has worked closely with successive governments to ensure the challenges and finances of rugby union are understood. Despite losing more than £150 million of revenue due to Covid, the RFU received no government loans and remains in a strong financial position.

“Rugby World Cup years are always loss making due to the additional cost of attending a World Cup and hosting fewer home games. However, we ended the last financial year with more than £50 million cash, undrawn credit facilities of £35 million and positive P&L reserves of £83.6 million. The RFU has agreed a landmark new Professional Game Partnership which will see the RFU helping to further support professional rugby clubs while maintaining investment of around £30 million a year in the community game.”