The Rugby Football League last night remained tight-lipped about emergency talks with the administrator of Bradford Bulls over potential takeover bids for the struggling side.

Chiefs from the governing body met joint administrator Brendan Guilfoyle, of The P&A Partnership, yesterday to discuss offers from four possible buyers who submitted unconditional offers for the rugby league side before last Friday’s deadline.

An RFL spokesman said he was unable to confirm the outcome of the meeting and Mr Guilfoyle was unavailable for comment last night.

But it is believed the deals on the table were from Bradford City Football Club, Bradford Park Avenue Super League (Europe) and Bradford restaurateur Omar Khan.

Julian Rhodes, co-chairman of Bradford City, confirmed it was still involved in the process, but said it was happy to “take a back seat” while the RFL and administrator talked to the other parties.

He said: “I think the RFL is going to go around and speak to other bidders, because there are a couple more people in it now. We will probably take a back seat and see how things go with these people. If it comes to anything, then great. We were only really in it if there was no one else. We just wanted the club to be saved.”

Former Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe, who is fronting Mr Khan’s bid, said he met with the RFL this week.

He said: “I think they are going around and speaking to all of the bidders to get an idea about their vision for the future of the club, documents, and then speaking to the administrator.”

Asked if he was aware of the timescale, he said: “I think that’s up in the air and they are getting the information they require. Everyone’s submitted the information that was required from them, as well as proof of funding. All that’s in place.”