Complex sentence: It was announced that the new competition would comprise only 14 teams out of the 22 who had competed in the two competitions in 1997 which would necessitate mergers or culling of teams who did not meet the criteria for inclusion into the new competition.
Split into simpler sentences: It was announced that the new competition would comprise only 14 teams out of the 22 who had competed in the two competitions in 1997. This contraction would necessitate mergers or the culling of teams who did not meet the criteria for inclusion into the new competition.