Sam Warburton, the Wales captain, will on Thursday decide whether to leave Cardiff Blues after a meeting between the Welsh Rugby Union and the four regions in Swansea failed to reach agreement over key issues such as funding.

The Blues have made Warburton an offer but to make it competitive with ones he has received from clubs in France and England, it needs to be topped up by the WRU.

The union will not offer help unless the regions renew the participation agreement which runs out at the end of the season. The two sides plan to meet again before the regions are obliged to say whether they will sign the participation agreement on 31 December.

The four, who have signed an accord binding them to act collectively, say they cannot afford to sign it because it offers them no increase in income for the next four years at a time when they cannot compete financially with clubs in France and England or the Irish provinces.

Warburton, a target for Toulon and Northampton, had set a deadline of Wednesday night for his contract issue to be sorted out.

The WRU has committed the regions to playing in the Heineken Cup next season, which will not involve English clubs, but it would mean a decrease in income and the four are holding talks with Premiership Rugby about forming a 16-strong Anglo-Welsh league next season which would run for a minimum of five years.

The meeting lasted less than two hours and the WRU delegation left without making comment. The Blues chairman, Peter Thomas, said nothing had been agreed and that the two sides plan to meet again. Later the union issued a statement.

It said: "A range of topics were discussed at the meeting. At this key moment for rugby in Wales the WRU continues to work hard in the best interests of Welsh rugby as a whole.

"It would be unfair on the fans, the players and all of Welsh rugby to make any further speculative comment at this time. However, the WRU remains hopeful that the regions will decide to continue with the participation agreement by the deadline of 31 December."

Warburton is one of six members of the Wales squad out of contract at the end of the season. The Lions' full-back Leigh Halfpenny is of interest to Toulon and Clermont Auvergne, while the outside-half Rhys Priestland has been offered a contract by Wasps. The regions have given the players permission to speak to potential employers because of the financial uncertainty, while the WRU has been considering offering players central contracts next month if the agreement remains unsigned and setting up new sides based in Neath, Pontypridd and north Wales.

The regions briefed their members of staff on Wednesday ahead of the meeting with the WRU at the Millennium Stadium, outlining options for the future. With the regions threatening to take legal action to win the right to play in an Anglo-Welsh league, the 31 December deadline may have to be put back if the differences between the two sides are not to be settled in court.