Stephen Coulby has called on the RFL to provide immediate clarity over the Bulls’ Super League future amid mounting fears over whether a deal to save the club can be struck.

Coulby, who returned to the board of directors in May, stressed that the ABC consortium and a second group, led by Bradford South MP Gerry Sutcliffe, were both ready and willing to pump money into the club.

But he said the uncertainty as to whether the game’s governing body would allow the Bulls to retain their Super League status was proving a major barrier to any agreement being reached.

Acting chairman Coulby said: “The ABC consortium have been trying for over three weeks now to satisfy the supposed demands of the RFL without knowing exactly what those demands are, and the second syndicate which has now put a bid in place is faced with the same problem.

“These people (ABC) are new to the sport, and without any doubt are totally blameless for the present state of the business.

“They wish to invest substantial monies into the club at a time when the sport is struggling to attract new investors, but instead of being welcomed they find it totally impossible to establish what exactly they would be purchasing.

“They read about comparisons with the purchases of Wakefield Trinity and Widnes by new owners in the recent past, when in reality Wakefield obtained a new three year Super League licence immediately following their administration and Widnes were a Championship club when bought out of administration by Steve O’Connor in 2007.

“Their intention has never been to ‘hold a gun’ to the head of the RFL but merely to put a sustainable business plan in place which in their opinion would require Super League membership through to the end of the present franchise period, at which time they would be reassessed.

“If the club is to be placed in the Championship their interest will cease.”

Coulby said the RFL had been given a detailed picture of the monetary woes which forced the Bulls into administration just a year after they awarded them a three-year Grade B Super League licence.

He explained: “For whatever reason these were not looked into when the RFL entered into discussions with the club in June 2011 to purchase the lease of the stadium, and when awarding a “B” licence to the club one month later when granting franchises for a further three-year period.

“Having now received that information, and having consulted over three weeks ago with the other Super League clubs, surely some decision should now be forthcoming, whatever that decision might be.

“If the club is at best to be a Championship club for a period of at least two years let any prospective purchasers know this, so that they can decide whether to proceed with their interest and plan accordingly.

“If this is to be the stated policy of the RFL moving forward it will of course not only be Bradford Bulls who will be seriously affected but also any other club which might find themselves in a similar position in the future.

“The continuing uncertainty is impacting not only on potential investors but in particular on the lives and families of the staff and players at the club, who again are in no way responsible for the financial crisis and whose efforts at this time cannot be praised too highly. 

"Many of those who lost their jobs have continued to show their unstinting loyalty by working without pay, hoping against hope that the future of the club, whatever that might be, will soon be resolved one way or the other.

"They most certainly do not deserve to be embroiled in the lingering death of the club, which the ongoing uncertainty is only assisting and accelerating at an alarming rate.”