2019 RWC could be moved from Japan
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2019 RWC could be moved from Japan
World Rugby boss Brett Gosper hasn’t ruled out the 2019 Rugby World Cup being moved from Japan to one of Italy or South Africa.
Concerns over the 2019 tournament continue after recent plans regarding a new National Stadium in Japan were shelved because of costs.
“We’ve had no formal discussions,” he told EWN Sport.
"Obviously, in the unlikely event that there was an issue in Japan, it would make sense that the first people you would consult would be the other two contenders at the time, which were Italy and South Africa.
"As I say we don’t envisage that being the situation, we are very confident that Japan will deliver on the requests that we’ve made to them in terms of reassurances on the 2019 World Cup.
“I’m extremely confident that the Japanese will come up with a contingency that will satisfy our requirements but Rugby World Cup’s are so important for World Rugby that we have to be absolutely sure of the certainty of our revenue streams flowing from that problem that we’ve had with the national stadium leaving," he added.
"We’re confident that they’ll sort that, they have until the end of September, and the indications that we’re getting is that we’ll have those reassurances that we require.”
Concerns over the 2019 tournament continue after recent plans regarding a new National Stadium in Japan were shelved because of costs.
“We’ve had no formal discussions,” he told EWN Sport.
"Obviously, in the unlikely event that there was an issue in Japan, it would make sense that the first people you would consult would be the other two contenders at the time, which were Italy and South Africa.
"As I say we don’t envisage that being the situation, we are very confident that Japan will deliver on the requests that we’ve made to them in terms of reassurances on the 2019 World Cup.
“I’m extremely confident that the Japanese will come up with a contingency that will satisfy our requirements but Rugby World Cup’s are so important for World Rugby that we have to be absolutely sure of the certainty of our revenue streams flowing from that problem that we’ve had with the national stadium leaving," he added.
"We’re confident that they’ll sort that, they have until the end of September, and the indications that we’re getting is that we’ll have those reassurances that we require.”
