Agree they are just cuckoo clubs ,just want to take the easy way out , .with no hard work .Can not believe the IMG are letting clubs get away with it. Still think the IMG thing is a big whitewash to get teams out of S L they do not want in. And the more I read about them you can see it is not going to do S L any good .Think it will mean that a lot of Clubs will not be able to be in S L because of the cost

There is if it goes in the players pocket. That's the kind of deal that gets you points docked.

To get away with that you'd have to use someone not associated with the club......and I'm sure they'd still investigate it.

Would it matter who paid as long as you stayed under the cap?

No it wouldn't.....and I think we have loads of cap room.
But that's not what Wrencat said. I was answering the bit about not affecting the cap.

Payments made direct/indirectly to a player are still subject to Tax & NI and therefore count on the salary cap, if not then there is also an element of tax evasion which would land all parties in the do do if found out

Sponsorship is just another income stream and will be included against the cap.