According to media reports, Judge Jeff Blackett called for Thomas’s resignation, along with nine non-executives on the management board.
Thomas will remain as acting chief executive until a permanent appointment is made, while the rest of the management board survived after a vote of no confidence was defeated by a majority verdict.
Thomas said in a statement: ‘This was a difficult day for the Union but at the end of the day this does now mean we can finally move on’.
‘The most important thing was that we maintained stability for staff and our other partners and in the coming weeks I will be ensuring that we navigate to calmer waters and that we can get on with our core purpose of rugby’.
The 52-page report, which will not be made public, was discussed by the RFU council on Sunday.
Thomas was made chairman of the RFU in April 2005, and will remain chairman of Rugby World Cup 2015 and as an RFU representative on the International Rugby Board.
Judge Blackett said: ‘As guardians of the game (the) council had some important decisions to take and discussions were robust and emotive in that regard’.
‘I would like to thank my panel for a job well done and hope that as a game we can now draw a line under the events of the past few months and get on with rugby’.
Published: 11/07/2011
Source: http://www.sportindustry.biz/news/view/10067/rfu-chairman-stands-down
