Plans are afoot for a Club World Cup in rugby, according to outgoing EPCR chairperson Simon Halliday.
Halliday says the organisers of the Heineken Champions Cup are working towards a potential global competition every four years, which would replace the latter stages of the European competition.
No other details have been given on how the competition would look, with Halliday briefly referencing it in a personal statement, as he leaves the post of chairperson following two terms.
"We are now working on the participation of the South African provinces (in Euopean competition) and building towards a Club World Cup every four years which would replace the latter stages of the Heineken Champions Cup," Halliday says.
"EPCR has signed a new eight-year agreement which I believe is a triumph of negotiation and shared objectives between the leagues and unions of Europe.
"This will guarantee the long-term future of both the Heineken Champions Cup and the EPCR Challenge Cup. At the same time, this will create clarity for the international and club calendar.
"The players and all rugby fans will be delighted as for them, the European tournaments have become a vital piece of their season's ambitions."
European and Southern Hemisphere sides have never faced off in competition, but Halliday previously mentioned plans for global competition in 2020.
At the time, he said it could be implemented as early as 2022 or 2024, the latter of which seems more likely now.
"We would play the group stage of the Heineken Champions Cup and the quarter-finalists would be drawn with the last eight teams in Super Rugby.
"The idea is that it would be played every four years. It would not be held in the year of a Lions tour or when a World Cup is staged, so we are looking at 2022, which gives us time, or 2024. It is an exciting idea and I hope the current crisis leads to a change in the way in which the game is governed, with clubs playing a full part."
Halliday hinted at the Club World Cup in his outgoing statement, after spending six-and-a-half years as chairman of the EPCR.
Anthony Lepage, who has been Administration and Finance Director since 2014, has been appointed Chief Executive of the organisation on an interim basis.
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