MOSCOW, November 7 (RIA Novosti) - Financial problems are set to force Russian top-flight team Imperia Penza out of professional rugby, a spokesman told R-Sport on Wednesday.
Imperia was founded in 2008 to give the city of Penza a team in Russia's rapidly developing Professional Rugby League, but 75 percent cuts to government funding could spell the end of the project, spokesman Andrei Demin said.
"The budget will be cut by 75 percent, which means it'll amount to five million rubles," Demin said, the figure equating to $160,000.
"A budget like that certainly doesn't allow a club to compete in the Superleague."
The government cuts were likely to be made official November 16, he added.
Imperia has met with little success and finished eighth of 10 teams in the league last season.
