In response to the SANFL’s invitation for the Port Adelaide Football Club to enter an AFL reserves team into the SANFL league competition under the same conditions as the Adelaide Football Club’s terms of entry, Port Adelaide chief executive Keith Thomas issues the following statement:

“I can confirm that the SANFL have invited the Port Adelaide Football Club to consider entering an AFL reserves side into the SANFL competition, under the same terms and conditions as those accepted by the Adelaide Football Club.

“It has previously been communicated to us that this invitation is conditional on Port Adelaide agreeing to relinquish its SANFL recruitment zones and junior programs.

“I wish to advise that our position hasn’t changed. We are preparing to compete in the SANFL competition in season 2014, under the same conditions as currently exist.

“Given that next year our AFL program will be the only one without a dedicated development team, we are committed to finding a solution that meets all of our criteria by season 2015.”