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PARIS - The International Rugby Board (IRB) is considering reducing the number of teams taking part in the World Cup from 20 to 16, French rugby chief Bernard Lapasset said on the weekend.
Lapassat said that the format for the 2011 edition of rugby's premier tournament had been under discussion at an IRB neeting in Dublin on Thursday.
"The 2011 edition of the World Cup will take place with either 20 teams or with 16 teams, 12 of which will be automatically qualified and the other four winning through from a world qualifier held in 2010," Lapasset said.
The World Cup involved 16 teams the first three times it was held in 1987, 1991 and 1995 after which the format was extended to add four extra teams.
But there have been some embarrassingly lop-sided results in the last two World Cups and it now takes six weeks to complete, leading many critics to say it is too long with too many meaningless games.
The hosts in 2011, New Zealand, have already made it clear they would prefer just 16 teams taking part.
The IRB is to take a decision on the matter when it meets in Paris on October 17-19 just before the World Cup final on October 20.
- AFP
