Deadline for Cardiff buy-out extended by WRU

Ospreys owners Y11 Sport & Media have an extra 30 days to negotiate their proposed takeover of Cardiff.

The initial period of exclusivity to negotiate the deal has expired with the deadline extended by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) to Wednesday, 22 April.

That is nine days after WRU chair Richard Collier-Keywood faces a vote of no confidence at an extraordinary general meeting of the governing body.

Leading figures at one of the WRU’s districts – Central Glamorgan Rugby Union (CGRU) – received backing to call the meeting.

Clubs will also vote on how the four council members who sit on the WRU board are decided, despite the current members being re-voted on as recently as last autumn.

Calls for the EGM followed the WRU’s contentious plans to cut the number of Welsh professional teams from four to three by June 2027.

In a statement the WRU said it had “confirmed Ospreys owners Y11 as its preferred bidder for Cardiff Rugby on 22 January with an initial 60-day period of commercial exclusivity to negotiate terms put in place”.