NRL footy star ‘sponsored by an 81-year-old grandmother’

Rugby league star Kieran Foran was reportedly being personally-sponsored by an 81-year-old grandmother – paying the representative halfback ‘hundreds of thousands of dollars’.

The NRL is currently investigating the Manly Sea Eagles after issuing the club a breach notice on Monday, alleging a string of dodgy deals with third-party companies and failing to register the full amounts of the payments.

Foran, who left the club in 2015, had a trust fund set up by Brenda Duchen, a lifelong supporter of the club who ‘was only trying to help the club by personally-sponsoring players’, Seven reported.

 

Rugby league star Kieran Foran was reportedly being personally-sponsored by an 81-year-old grandmother – paying the representative halfback ‘hundreds of thousands of dollars’

Foran, who left the club in 2015, had a trust fund set up by Brenda Duchen (pictured), a lifelong supporter of the club who 'was only trying to help the club by personally-sponsoring players'

Foran, who left the club in 2015, had a trust fund set up by Brenda Duchen (pictured), a lifelong supporter of the club who ‘was only trying to help the club by personally-sponsoring players’

Ms Duchen was reportedly ‘very upset’ by the accusations of any wrongdoing and says the ‘significant amount of money’ invested into Foran, who is her favourite player, was registered through the NRL. 

The code however believe Manly have helped facilitate the deal, which would break salary cap rules.  

‘I have done nothing wrong and can’t imagine what the problem would be. There’s been no payments other than what I have done through the NRL,’ she told the Daily Telegraph.

‘I have not been spoken to and would happily show them my books, they can have a look at them anytime they like. I’ve got nothing to hide at all.’

‘I sponsored Kieran Foran before. I became great friends with him, I’m still great friends with him. I see him all the time. I had Kieran for three years.’ 

There is no suggestion Ms Duchen was doing anything wrong. 

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Ms Duchen and the Manly Sea Eagles for comment.  

Foran’s father Greg is the president and CEO of Walmart. He earned $25.8 million in salary from the retail giant in 2016.

Ms Duchen was reportedly 'very upset' by the accusations of any wrongdoing and says the 'significant amount of money' invested into Foran was registered through the NRL

Ms Duchen was reportedly ‘very upset’ by the accusations of any wrongdoing and says the ‘significant amount of money’ invested into Foran was registered through the NRL

Foran signed a three-year deal with the Bulldogs earlier this year. Canterbury-Bankstown will be the third club Foran has played for in three years since leaving Manly

Foran signed a three-year deal with the Bulldogs earlier this year. Canterbury-Bankstown will be the third club Foran has played for in three years since leaving Manly

Manly are the latest club to face such allegations from the NRL, after several scandals have rocked the code in the past 15 years.

The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs were stripped of 37 competition points in 2002, the Melbourne Storm had two premierships and three minor premierships taken in 2010 and Parramatta were deducted 12 points in 2016, all for wide-ranging salary cap breaches.

The Sea Eagles have denied the allegations in the breach notice, but have five days to officially respond. They are not expected to face penalties similar to the aforementioned clubs.

Foran has had a tumultuous few years involved in rugby league, including match-fixing investigations.

He walked out on a lucrative contract with the Parramatta Eels in July of 2016 after a very public relationship breakdown with his long-term partner and mother of his two children.

Later that year, the 27-year-old, his brother Liam and former brothel-owner Eddie Hayson were scrutinised by police over claims NRL matches were fixed. The men denied any involvement and NSW Crime Commission investigations are ongoing.    



Read more at DailyMail.co.uk