Sarries were also given a £5.36m fine for breaching salary cap regulations over three seasons.

"The success of Premiership Rugby is based on a group of fiercely competitive clubs who agree to play by the same set of rules on and off the pitch," Premiership Rugby's chief executive Darren Childs said.

"The salary cap has been fundamental to promoting competition since its introduction and, while we continue to apply the existing regulations robustly, this review is designed to ensure that we have a world-leading framework in place for the future."

It is hoped any new regulations that come out of the review, which is being led by former government minister Lord Myners, will be put in place for the 2020-21 season.

Premiership Rugby also confirmed that they were "in active dialogue" with Saracens to confirm the club were complying with salary cap regulations this season.

The European champions chose not to contest their punishment, with chairman Nigel Wray saying the club "made mistakes" and accepted the penalties "with humility".

After five games of the league season they are now on -18 points, 22 points adrift of second bottom Leicester Tigers.

What's the background?

Saracens were charged in relation to a failure to disclose player payments in each of the 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.

The club previously claimed they "readily comply" with salary cap rules and were able to spend above the £7m cap because of the high proportion - almost 60% - of home-grown players in their squad.

Sarries have several of the game's biggest stars on their books, including seven of the 31-man squad that represented England at the World Cup in Japan, such as captain Owen Farrell and forwards Maro Itoje and Billy and Mako Vunipola.