Sanzaar has dismissed as speculation recent reports on the future format of Super Rugby.

The Sydney Morning Herald said on Monday that Sanzaar was considering a return to a 14-team tournament and scrapping the conference system.

The current Sanzaar broadcast deal finishes at the end of the 2020 season.

On Tuesday, Sanzaar CEO Andy Marinos said: ‘The recent reports in the media around the next iteration of the Super Rugby tournament are nothing more than speculative. As a business, we are presently looking at our future competition structures from 2021 onwards, a matter that has been widely reported in the media. We have not reached any definitive decisions around our future competition, including the number of teams that will participate in the future structure.

‘We will continue to engage with our stakeholders, specifically the national unions [Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa] and our broadcasters as we plan ahead for the future and the next broadcast cycle that commences in 2021.

‘If there are any changes to our structure we will communicate this at the appropriate time.’