Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan Inc. announced Friday its rugby team, Coca-Cola Red Sparks, will cease operations at the end of this year and withdraw from the Japan Rugby Football Union's new league, which kicks off in January 2022.

The decision, announced in a statement, comes in the midst of reforms within the company and following a re-examination of the process for entering the new league.

"We will continue to provide appropriate career support for our rugby team members going forward, and will continue to contribute to the further development of local communities and the rugby culture," the statement said.

The Kyushu-based club, which played this season in Japan's second-tier Top Challenge League, was founded in 1966 and was first promoted to the first-tier Top League in 2006.

==Kyodo

© Kyodo News International, Inc., source Newswire