Argentina has been invited to join New Zealand, Australia and South Africa to form a Four Nations southern hemisphere championship from 2012.
Sanzar chief executive and South Africa Rugby acting managing director Andy Marinos said yesterday the invitation was conditional on Argentina securing its best players to play in the Four Nations.
"To assist with this, the national unions of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are very keen to actively work with Argentina to place their best players across Super rugby teams in the three countries."
Marinos said the Pumas would be an exciting addition to a southern hemisphere championship.
"To have the Pumas, currently ranked sixth in the world, join with the three top-ranked international teams in world rugby will be exciting for fans, players, sponsors and broadcasters across our four countries and beyond.
"They play a different style to the All Blacks, Springboks and Wallabies and their inclusion will see the Tri-Nations evolve to be a truly southern hemisphere championship."
Argentina Rugby Union (UAR) president Porfirio Carreras said the invitation was "a momentous time for rugby in Argentina".
"We are very much looking forward to working with our partners in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa to secure our place in the best competition in world rugby in 2012."
Under the Four Nations format, teams would play on a home and away basis, meaning six matches per team and a total of 12 matches overall.
The Four Nations would be played from mid-August (following the end of the new Super rugby competition) for an eight or nine-week period through until early to mid-October.
In a World Cup year, an abbreviated format would be played through July and August.
"We are delighted to have the chance to become a great rugby nation and to play in top-level international rugby and we are committed to working with Sanzar to meet the conditions,"
Augustine Pichot, who led the Pumas to their third placing at the 2007 World Cup, said.
He is now a member of the UAR high performance board and is a member of the Four Nations project team.
"This exciting development will be vital to grow the game in Argentina.
"This is historic and everyone in Argentina should be proud."
Marinos said Sanzar would be meeting representatives of the UAR and the International Rugby Board to work towards confirming the Four Nations championship.
Sanzar was in renegotiating its broadcasting contracts "and, while we have kept our broadcasters fully informed about the discussions with Argentina, we now need to confirm their view on the plan to include Argentina from 2012", he said.
