European Professional Club Rugby are considering reducing the number of teams involved in the Champions Cup, which may also affect the latter stages of the competition.
Discussions are set to take place soon with the organisation looking to sort out commercial and broadcasting deals post-2022.
Speaking on the possibilities EPCR director general Vincent Gaillard confirmed that talks to change will take place, but there is a chance it could remain as it is.
“We need to have some certainty for the direction of the tournament. We have received a very clear mandate from the board for the process to be concluded shortly. We are discussing whether there might be potential for change or improvement but if the desire is to stay with a 20-team Champions Cup that is what we will do. We’re not in a bad place, we just need to project ourselves into the future,â€? he said.
The current format has been in place for five years since the 2014/15 season, with 20 teams being split into five pools before entering the knock-out stages.
That move from 24 to 20 teams could now be reduced further to either 16 or 18 teams, with the latter appearing most likely, with six pools of three teams.
A move to 18-teams would also free up space in the rugby calendar and there are proposals for there to be two-legged semi-finals if they change.
However, for now things remain the same, but if there is a change it will be interesting to see which leagues lose places in the competition.
