Australia has withdrawn its bid for the 2015 Rugby World Cup due to an "exorbitant" guarantee fee charged by the International Rugby Board.
Australian Rugby Union (ARU) chief executive John O'Neill added that Australia – who hosted the tournament in 2003 - may not bid for 2019 either as it would be a struggle to find a bank guarantee to cover the $140 million IRB hosting fee.
"We won't bid for 2015...we're working on a bid for 2019, but I've got to say the numbers are horrendously difficult to justify with that level of tournament fee," O'Neill told Australian Associated Press. "As a board, because we're a public company, our directors are saying 'well that's a contingent liability we would have to carry on our balance sheet and a bank isn't going to guarantee it'."
Australia, along with England, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales, confirmed their intention to bid for the 2015 World Cup last year.
England has also said its bid could be in jeopardy because of the difficulty of making the up-front payment, due to the global financial crisis and despite pledged support from the British government.
Japanese officials however have said the crisis would not affect their bid. The IRB will make its decision on the host nation for both the 2015 and 2019 tournaments on July 28.
