Fans cheer on the Toronto Wolfpack during a rugby game against Leeds Rhinos, March 5, 2020.LEE SMITH/Reuters
One day after rejecting Toronto’s bid for reinstatement, the Super League board voted unanimously Tuesday in favour of admitting a 12th team to replace the Wolfpack next season.
The board has not yet decided on how to choose the new Super League member, however.
Super League said that will be decided by a committee headed by an independent chairman. Further details on the criteria for applicant clubs “will be discussed and released at an appropriate time.”
“We are committed to ensuring that the process is independent and impartial, and stands up to scrutiny, and accordingly, ensuring the committee is properly constituted and clearly mandated is our first priority.,” Super League executive chairman Robert Elstone said in a statement.
The board also voted in favour of a 27-round regular season.
Toronto, which was in its first Super League season, stood down July 20, saying it could not afford to play out the remainder of the pandemic-affected 2020 season.
Its subsequent bid to be reinstated next season, under potential new owner Carlo LiVolsi, was rejected by an 8-4 vote with one abstention.
The Wolfpack began life in 2017 in Betfred League 1, the third tier of English rugby league. The transatlantic team won promotion first to the second-tier Championship and then Super League.