World Rugby must prioritise the development of tier-two nations, ahead of expanding the Rugby World Cup, the organisation representing rugby players worldwide says.
The Rugby World Cup has featured 20 teams since the 1999 tournament in Wales, and the same number will contest the showpiece in Japan next year, but World Rugby CEO Brett Gosper said recently that the governing body was "always looking from an expansive point of view rather than reducing, so it's just a question of when rather than if".
Gosper flagged that the global showpiece could feature 24 teams, perhaps even as soon as France 2023.
"We want to make sure the teams are competitive enough to move to a 24-team tournament," he said.
"We have assumed 20 for 2023 but we could change that between now and 2023.
Omar Hassanein, chief executive of International Rugby Players, has told Fairfax Media in Australia, however, that rugby must narrow the gap between the tier-one and tier-two nations "if we want to be a sport that has that real uncertainty about who's going to be in the quarter-finals of a World Cup".
"The key is strengthening the tier two band," Hassanein told Fairfax.
"That's got to happen before expanding,"
Hassanein wants World Rugby also to prioritise wage security for players on Pacific Islands and some of the lower-tier African and European teams.
The Rugby Football Union made goodwill payments of £75,000 to the Fijian and Samoan Rugby Unions ahead of their respective Tests against England at Twickenham in 2016 and 2017, and Tonga players claimed in June that they had not been paid for the Pacific Nations Cup tournament or received the bonus they said had been promised to them for defeating Italy in 2017.
The Kenya Rugby Union, meanwhile, is in the midst of a funding crisis, with chief executive Sylvia Kamau saying this month that "we struggle to keep the teams afloat" while the German men's national team went on strike before a match against Chile last November, citing funding issues, forcing the German Rugby Union to field a scratch team.
Germany and Kenya are still in contention to qualify for Rugby World Cup 2019, and they will play Hong Kong and Canada in the repechage tournament in France in November.
Germany, Kenya and Hong Kong have not previously qualified for a Rugby World Cup.
"Some might argue that the more teams getting exposure at World Cup time will address the [disparity] but what tier-two nations need and part of our overall position is that not only do they need more guaranteed conditions on pay and welfare, they also need more guaranteed fixtures so they can begin to bridge the gap," Hassanein told Fairfax.
"We know this issue is high on World Rugby's agenda, there's just cost implications to all of it as well."