WRC chief scotches talk of cash crisis

Recent rumours had sparked talk of extensive redundancies at International Sportsworld Communicators - Richards' company that runs the commercial activities of the WRC - and of cash troubles within the firm.

Richards, however, has denied all the talk. "There is no issue here at all," he said. "We made four marketing people redundant - from a total staff of 62 - simply because we are putting the focus back on television. This is not dramatic and there are no financial problems. We have enormously deep pockets of funding available from one of the biggest private equity funds in Europe. This championship is robust, and given what I know about other activities, the WRC is the healthiest in the world."

Richards added that ISC would be returning the focus of its activities to television, rather than trying to forge ahead with other forms of media.