Thursday 23 March 2017 09:27, UK
The Western Force have launched a fundraising drive in a bid to save the franchise from possibly being cut from Super Rugby.
SANZAAR, made up of the South African, New Zealand, Australian and Argentine rugby unions, met in London recently to address criticism of the 18-team format of its provincial competition.
Media reports in Australia and South Africa suggested up to three teams from those two countries could be axed for 2018 and the Perth-based Force are in the firing line, with coach Dave Wessels saying a lack of information from SANZAAR was unsettling players and making it hard to recruit new ones.
The club have launched a A$10m (£6.1m) fundraising drive and are asking fans to purchase a total of 10,000 shares to take them out of Australian Rugby Union (ARU) ownership, and likened the community ownership model to that of Barcelona and the NFL's Green Bay Packers.
"Fans will own the club and we'll have the rights to operate a professional Western Australian team that can participate in the Super Rugby competition," Western Force Owners Limited chairman Tony Howarth said in a statement.
Founded as an expansion team in 2006, the Force have struggled to gain a foothold on and off the pitch in a part of Australia far removed from rugby union's eastern heartland. The ARU was forced to bail the team out last year to the tune of A$3m (£1.8m).
The Force have won just one of their three games this year and face the unbeaten Crusaders in Christchurch on Friday, live on Sky Sports 2.
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