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Leagues and Governing Bodies

Australian Rugby Union, Super Rugby Side Western Force Head To Arbitration

The Australian Rugby Union's "messy and protracted process" of axing one of its five Super Rugby teams has entered a "potentially decisive phase as the governing body and the Western Force go into arbitration," according to Nick Mulvenney of REUTERS. The ARU said in mid-April that the Perth-based Force or Melbourne Rebels "would be culled along with two teams from South Africa to allow the largely southern hemisphere competition" to contract from 18 to 15 sides for the '18 season. The Rebels were "always unlikely to be closed down" given it would cost up to A$13M ($10.4M) to buy out the franchise's private owner and pay back the Victorian state government for its investment in the game (REUTERS, 7/31). In London, Ben Coles reported South Africa has "already fulfilled its part of the agreement," announcing at the start of July that the Southern Kings and Cheetahs were being cut. Representing a "rare area of rugby union in Australia in the west given the other four sides are clustered together on the east coast" from Brisbane to Melbourne, arbitration is "just the first hurdle in a long battle" for the Western Force to keep its "place at the table" (TELEGRAPH, 7/31).

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