EP Rugby President Andre Rademan said the Southern Kings would be playing Northern Hemisphere Rugby next season.
He said that deal to play in what was previously known as the UK's Pro12 competition will be signed on the 18 July.
Rademan was speaking to AlgoaFM News moments after emerging from an SA Rugby Special General Meeting in Cape Town on Friday morning, which formally confirmed the
South African franchises in a trimmed down version of Vodacom Super Rugby next season.
They will be the Bulls, Lions, Stormers and Sharks.
Rademan said the opportunity to play in a new Northern Hemisphere competition was an extremely exciting prospect for the Kings.
Meanwhile, Nelson Mandela Bay executive mayor, Athol Trollip, said it was incredibly unfair that the Southern Kings, who are doing well in this year's Super Rugby competition, have been axed from the competition from next year.
He said that the whole matter had been hanging over the team's head like the proverbial Sword of Damocles.
However, Trollip said that the Southern Kings, their management and leadership, have shown that they were an incredible rugby side, who would show this again this weekend against the Bulls on Saturday and 'ironically' next week in their final match against the Free State Cheetahs.
"I think it's incredibly unfair because this team is 10 points ahead of the next best South African team yet they're not considered for being excluded from this competition. We've become accustomed in the Eastern Cape not to be treated fairly. But, what I do want so say is that the Southern Kings rugby side and their management, leadership and coach have shown that they're an incredible rugby side and I believe that they're going to do the same (tomorrow) afternoon and next weekend," he said,
Trollip said that "wherever our future lies if they take that kind of spirit and that kind of dedicated determination wherever we play rugby we're going to make a difference. There is a future for the Southern Kings in playing in the Northern Hemisphere rugby tournament. We just need to make sure that we negotiate the very best deal for our players and four our region".
He said "our region and our players have been getting a bad draw for a long, long time. We now are on the front foot and we must make sure that we secure the very best deal we can for the future of rugby in the Eastern Cape".
Trollip said that the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality has made it quite clear where it stands in supporting rugby.
"We prevented the liquidation of the Eastern Province Rugby Union by giving them R15m. We are fully behind rugby in the whole region of the Eastern Cape and we are fully behind our professional franchise, the Southern Kings. Wherever they play rugby, we'll be behind them," he said.
