Japanese Super rugby team the Sunwolves will be cut from Super rugby after the 2020 season.
According to reports Sanzaar bosses told the Sunwolves on Tuesday this week that after 2020 they will not be part of the tournament.
A report in Australia said that the Sunwolves been asked to pay a participation fee to remain in the tournament which no other team pays. This fee was reported to be in the region of 1 billion yen per annum for seasons beyond 2020.
It is understood that the Sunwolves exit has largely been driven by the South African teams due to the travel burden placed on their teams.
The Sunwolves will remain in Super rugby for the remainder of the current Super rugby broadcast contract which ends in 2020 and then from 2021 the tournament will go back to a Super 14 format.
The super 14 round robin format was more popular with fans than the current geographic conference format which sees some teams not playing other in a season.
It is widely agreed that the Super14 round robin format had more integrity than the current format.
Sanzaar said in a statement that they will confirm the future of Super rugby on Friday this week.
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