Totally agree that viability should be looked at I'm not sure how much the points would have been affected on the IMG Gradings or whether IF it was a case that Salford would have been downgraded below London but a quick check Salford were 8th and London 24th on that particular metric

IMG criteria.

Finances: Reflects success of fan engagement and business performance
Rewards sustainable investment and sound financial management.

Score max 4.5 which is 22.5% of the total score

I don’t know if Salford revealed their ratings but they did come 12th with 13.97 next on list is Toulouse at 13.58 then London at 12.65.

Actually found their score for finance.

Finance (max score 4.5): – 2.15
Non-centralised turnover £: 1.50 / 2.25
Non-centralised turnover %: 0.15 / 0.75
Adjusted profit: 0.25 / 0.5
Owner investment: 0.25 / 0.5
Balance sheet strength: 0.00 / 0.5