France confirm boycott

"All but three board members voted for the boycott," LNR president Serge Blanco said.

"This was unavoidable. We did not want to leave European competition but we felt we had no other choice," the former France fullback added.

Premier rugby said on Monday that the English teams would join the French clubs although the Rugby Football Union has since warned clubs they could face legal action if they went ahead with a boycott.

The LNR first threatened to boycott European competitions including the Heineken Cup since January due to a dispute between the RFU and Premier Rugby clubs, saying the row led to uncertainty over the future of the competition.

The dispute revolves around the demand by the Premier Rugby clubs that they should be given 50 percent of the European Rugby Cup's stakes and voting rights.

French Rugby Federation president Bernard Lapasset attended the meeting and tried to avoid the boycott by offering the clubs a blocking minority of 15.66 percent for two years but his proposal was turned down.

"I'm very disappointed because I felt that was a strong and reasonable proposal," Lapasset said. "We need European competition but it will be very difficult to rebuild."

The three who voted against the boycott were the two FFR representatives and ERC's French president Jean-Pierre Lux, a source close to the meeting revealed.

France and England have provided nine of the 11 winners of the Cup since the competition began in 1995.